Feedback algorithms for manual bailout systems for surgical instruments

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure provides a surgical instrument including an end effector, a drive member movable to effectuate a motion in said end effector, a motor operable to move the drive member to effectuate the motion in the end effector and a bailout assembly operable to perform a mechanical bailout of the surgical instrument in response to a bailout error. The bailout assembly includes a bailout door, a bailout handle accessible through the bailout door. The bailout handle is operable to move the drive member to effectuate a bailout motion in the end effector. A controller includes a memory and a processor coupled to the memory. The processor is configured to detect the bailout error. The processor is programmed to stop the motor in response to the detection of the bailout error.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to surgical instruments and, in variouscircumstances, to surgical stapling and cutting instruments and staplecartridges therefor that are designed to staple and cut tissue.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The features and advantages of this invention, and the manner ofattaining them, will become more apparent and the invention itself willbe better understood by reference to the following description ofembodiments of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a surgical instrument that has aninterchangeable shaft assembly operably coupled thereto;

FIG. 2 is an exploded assembly view of the interchangeable shaftassembly and surgical instrument of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is another exploded assembly view showing portions of theinterchangeable shaft assembly and surgical instrument of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is an exploded assembly view of a portion of the surgicalinstrument of FIGS. 1-3;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional side view of a portion of the surgicalinstrument of FIG. 4 with the firing trigger in a fully actuatedposition;

FIG. 6 is another cross-sectional view of a portion of the surgicalinstrument of FIG. 5 with the firing trigger in an unactuated position;

FIG. 7 is an exploded assembly view of one form of an interchangeableshaft assembly;

FIG. 8 is another exploded assembly view of portions of theinterchangeable shaft assembly of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is another exploded assembly view of portions of theinterchangeable shaft assembly of FIGS. 7 and 8;

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of the interchangeableshaft assembly of FIGS. 7-9;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a portion of the shaft assembly ofFIGS. 7-10 with the switch drum omitted for clarity;

FIG. 12 is another perspective view of the portion of theinterchangeable shaft assembly of FIG. 11 with the switch drum mountedthereon;

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a portion of the interchangeable shaftassembly of FIG. 11 operably coupled to a portion of the surgicalinstrument of FIG. 1 illustrated with the closure trigger thereof in anunactuated position;

FIG. 14 is a right side elevational view of the interchangeable shaftassembly and surgical instrument of FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is a left side elevational view of the interchangeable shaftassembly and surgical instrument of FIGS. 13 and 14;

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of a portion of the interchangeable shaftassembly of FIG. 11 operably coupled to a portion of the surgicalinstrument of FIG. 1 illustrated with the closure trigger thereof in anactuated position and a firing trigger thereof in an unactuatedposition;

FIG. 17 is a right side elevational view of the interchangeable shaftassembly and surgical instrument of FIG. 16;

FIG. 18 is a left side elevational view of the interchangeable shaftassembly and surgical instrument of FIGS. 16 and 17;

FIG. 18A is a right side elevational view of the interchangeable shaftassembly of FIG. 11 operably coupled to a portion of the surgicalinstrument of FIG. 1 illustrated with the closure trigger thereof in anactuated position and the firing trigger thereof in an actuatedposition;

FIG. 19 is a perspective view of a portion of an interchangeable shaftassembly showing an electrical coupler arrangement;

FIG. 20 is an exploded assembly view of portions of the interchangeableshaft assembly and electrical coupler of FIG. 19;

FIG. 21 is a perspective view of circuit trace assembly;

FIG. 22 is a plan view of a portion of the circuit trace assembly ofFIG. 21;

FIG. 23 is a perspective view of a portion of another interchangeableshaft assembly showing another electrical coupler arrangement;

FIG. 24 is an exploded assembly view of portions of the interchangeableshaft assembly and electrical coupler of FIG. 23;

FIG. 25 is an exploded slip ring assembly of the electrical coupler ofFIGS. 23 and 24;

FIG. 26 is a perspective view of a portion of another interchangeableshaft assembly showing another electrical coupler arrangement;

FIG. 27 is an exploded assembly view of portions of the interchangeableshaft assembly and electrical coupler of FIG. 26;

FIG. 28 is a front perspective view of a portion of the slip ringassembly of the electrical coupler of FIGS. 26 and 27;

FIG. 29 is an exploded assembly view of the slip ring assembly portionof FIG. 28; and

FIG. 30 is a rear perspective view of the portion of slip ring assemblyof FIGS. 28 and 29.

FIG. 31 is a perspective view of a surgical instrument comprising apower assembly, a handle assembly, and an interchangeable shaftassembly;

FIG. 32 is perspective view of the surgical instrument of FIG. 31 withthe interchangeable shaft assembly separated from the handle assembly;

FIG. 33, which is divided into FIGS. 33A and 33B, is a circuit diagramof the surgical instrument of FIG. 31;

FIG. 34 is a block diagram of interchangeable shaft assemblies for usewith the surgical instrument of FIG. 31;

FIG. 35 is a perspective view of the power assembly of the surgicalinstrument of FIG. 31 separated from the handle assembly;

FIG. 36 is a block diagram the surgical instrument of FIG. 31illustrating interfaces between the handle assembly and the powerassembly and between the handle assembly and the interchangeable shaftassembly;

FIG. 37 is a power management module of the surgical instrument of FIG.31;

FIG. 38 is a perspective view of a surgical instrument comprising apower assembly and an interchangeable working assembly assembled withthe power assembly;

FIG. 39 is a block diagram of the surgical instrument of FIG. 38illustrating an interface between the interchangeable working assemblyand the power assembly;

FIG. 40 is a block diagram illustrating a module of the surgicalinstrument of FIG. 38;

FIG. 41 is a perspective view of a surgical instrument comprising apower assembly and a interchangeable working assembly assembled with thepower assembly;

FIG. 42 is a circuit diagram of an exemplary power assembly of thesurgical instrument of FIG. 41;

FIG. 43 is a circuit diagram of an exemplary power assembly of thesurgical instrument of FIG. 41;

FIG. 44 is a circuit diagram of an exemplary interchangeable workingassembly of the surgical instrument of FIG. 41;

FIG. 45 is a circuit diagram of an exemplary interchangeable workingassembly of the surgical instrument of FIG. 41;

FIG. 46 is a block diagram depicting an exemplary module of the surgicalinstrument of FIG. 41;

FIG. 47A is a graphical representation of an exemplary communicationsignal generated by a working assembly controller of the interchangeableworking assembly of the surgical instrument of FIG. 41 as detected by avoltage monitoring mechanism;

FIG. 47B is a graphical representation of an exemplary communicationsignal generated by a working assembly controller of the interchangeableworking assembly of the surgical instrument of FIG. 41 as detected by acurrent monitoring mechanism; and

FIG. 47C is a graphical representation of effective motor displacementof a motor of the interchangeable working assembly of FIG. 41 inresponse to the communication signal generated by the working assemblycontroller of FIG. 47A.

FIG. 48 is a perspective view of a surgical instrument comprising ahandle assembly and a shaft assembly including an end effector;

FIG. 49 is a perspective view of the handle assembly of the surgicalinstrument of FIG. 48;

FIG. 50 is an exploded view of the handle assembly of the surgicalinstrument of FIG. 48;

FIG. 51 is a schematic diagram of a bailout feedback system of thesurgical instrument of FIG. 48;

FIG. 52 is a block diagram of a module for use with the bailout feedbacksystem of FIG. 51;

FIG. 53 is a block diagram of a module for use with the bailout feedbacksystem of FIG. 51,

FIG. 54 illustrates one instance of a power assembly comprising a usagecycle circuit configured to generate a usage cycle count of the batteryback;

FIG. 55 illustrates one instance of a usage cycle circuit comprising aresistor-capacitor timer;

FIG. 56 illustrates one instance of a usage cycle circuit comprising atimer and a rechargeable battery;

FIG. 57 illustrates one instance of a combination sterilization andcharging system configured to sterilize and charge a power assemblysimultaneously;

FIG. 58 illustrates one instance of a combination sterilization andcharging system configured to sterilize and charge a power assemblyhaving a battery charger formed integrally therein;

FIG. 59 is a schematic of a system for powering down an electricalconnector of a surgical instrument handle when a shaft assembly is notcoupled thereto;

FIG. 60 is a flowchart depicting a method for adjusting the velocity ofa firing element according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 61 is a flowchart depicting a method for adjusting the velocity ofa firing element according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 62 is a partial, perspective view of an end effector and a fastenercartridge according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 63 is partial, perspective view of an end effector and a fastenercartridge according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 64 is a cross-sectional, elevation view of an end effector and afastener cartridge according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 65 is a cross-sectional, elevation view of an end effector and afastener cartridge according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 66 is a partial, perspective view of an end effector with portionsremoved and a fastener cartridge according to various embodiments of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 67 is a partial, perspective view of an end effector with portionsremoved and a fastener cartridge according to various embodiments of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 68(A) is a schematic depicting an integrated circuit according tovarious embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 68(B) is a schematic depicting a magnetoresistive circuit accordingto various embodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 68(C) is a table listing various specifications of amagnetoresistive sensor according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Applicant of the present application owns the following patentapplications that were filed on Mar. 1, 2013 and which are each hereinincorporated by reference in their respective entireties:

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/782,295, entitled ARTICULATABLESURGICAL INSTRUMENTS WITH CONDUCTIVE PATHWAYS FOR SIGNAL COMMUNICATION;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/782,323, entitled ROTARY POWEREDARTICULATION JOINTS FOR SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/782,338, entitled THUMBWHEEL SWITCHARRANGEMENTS FOR SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/782,499, entitled ELECTROMECHANICALSURGICAL DEVICE WITH SIGNAL RELAY ARRANGEMENT;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/782,460, entitled MULTIPLE PROCESSORMOTOR CONTROL FOR MODULAR SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/782,358, entitled JOYSTICK SWITCHASSEMBLIES FOR SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/782,481, entitled SENSORSTRAIGHTENED END EFFECTOR DURING REMOVAL THROUGH TROCAR;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/782,518, entitled CONTROL METHODSFOR SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS WITH REMOVABLE IMPLEMENT PORTIONS;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/782,375, entitled ROTARY POWEREDSURGICAL INSTRUMENTS WITH MULTIPLE DEGREES OF FREEDOM; and

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/782,536, entitled SURGICALINSTRUMENT SOFT STOP are hereby incorporated by reference in theirentireties.

Applicant of the present application also owns the following patentapplications that were filed on Mar. 14, 2013 and which are each hereinincorporated by reference in their respective entireties:

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/803,097, entitled ARTICULATABLESURGICAL INSTRUMENT COMPRISING A FIRING DRIVE;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/803,193, entitled CONTROLARRANGEMENTS FOR A DRIVE MEMBER OF A SURGICAL INSTRUMENT;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/803,053, entitled INTERCHANGEABLESHAFT ASSEMBLIES FOR USE WITH A SURGICAL INSTRUMENT;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/803,086, entitled ARTICULATABLESURGICAL INSTRUMENT COMPRISING AN ARTICULATION LOCK;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/803,210, entitled SENSORARRANGEMENTS FOR ABSOLUTE POSITIONING SYSTEM FOR SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/803,148, entitled MULTI-FUNCTIONMOTOR FOR A SURGICAL INSTRUMENT;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/803,066, entitled DRIVE SYSTEMLOCKOUT ARRANGEMENTS FOR MODULAR SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/803,117, entitled ARTICULATIONCONTROL SYSTEM FOR ARTICULATABLE SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/803,130, entitled DRIVE TRAINCONTROL ARRANGEMENTS FOR MODULAR SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS; and

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/803,159, entitled METHOD AND SYSTEMFOR OPERATING A SURGICAL INSTRUMENT.

Applicant of the present application also owns the following patentapplications that were filed on even date herewith and are each hereinincorporated by reference in their respective entireties:

U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, entitled SURGICAL INSTRUMENTCOMPRISING A SENSOR SYSTEM, Attorney Docket No. END7386USNP/130458;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, entitled POWER MANAGEMENTCONTROL SYSTEMS FOR SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS, Attorney Docket No.END7387USNP/130459;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, entitled STERILIZATIONVERIFICATION CIRCUIT, Attorney Docket No. END7388USNP/130460;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, entitled VERIFICATION OF NUMBEROF BATTERY EXCHANGES/PROCEDURE COUNT, Attorney Docket No.END7389USNP/130461;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, entitled POWER MANAGEMENTTHROUGH SLEEP OPTIONS OF SEGMENTED CIRCUIT AND WAKE UP CONTROL, AttorneyDocket No. END7390USNP/130462;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, entitled MODULAR POWEREDSURGICAL INSTRUMENT WITH DETACHABLE SHAFT ASSEMBLIES, Attorney DocketNo. END7391USNP/130463;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, entitled SURGICAL INSTRUMENTUTILIZING SENSOR ADAPTATION, Attorney Docket No. END7393USNP/130465;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, entitled SURGICAL INSTRUMENTCONTROL CIRCUIT HAVING A SAFETY PROCESSOR, Attorney Docket No.END7394USNP/130466;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, entitled SURGICAL INSTRUMENTCOMPRISING INTERACTIVE SYSTEMS, Attorney Docket No. END7395USNP/130467;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, entitled INTERFACE SYSTEMS FORUSE WITH SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS, Attorney Docket No. END7396USNP/130468;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, entitled MODULAR SURGICALINSTRUMENT SYSTEM, Attorney Docket No. END7397USNP/130469;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, entitled SYSTEMS AND METHODSFOR CONTROLLING A SEGMENTED CIRCUIT, Attorney Docket No.END7399USNP/130471;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, entitled POWER MANAGEMENTTHROUGH SEGMENTED CIRCUIT AND VARIABLE VOLTAGE PROTECTION, AttorneyDocket No. END7400USNP/130472;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, entitled SURGICAL STAPLINGINSTRUMENT SYSTEM, Attorney Docket No. END7401USNP/130473; and

U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, entitled SURGICAL INSTRUMENTCOMPRISING A ROTATABLE SHAFT, Attorney Docket No. END7402USNP/130474.

Certain exemplary embodiments will now be described to provide anoverall understanding of the principles of the structure, function,manufacture, and use of the devices and methods disclosed herein. One ormore examples of these embodiments are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings. Those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that thedevices and methods specifically described herein and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings are non-limiting exemplary embodiments. Thefeatures illustrated or described in connection with one exemplaryembodiment may be combined with the features of other embodiments. Suchmodifications and variations are intended to be included within thescope of the present invention.

Reference throughout the specification to “various embodiments,” “someembodiments,” “one embodiment,” or “an embodiment”, or the like, meansthat a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described inconnection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment.Thus, appearances of the phrases “in various embodiments,” “in someembodiments,” “in one embodiment”, or “in an embodiment”, or the like,in places throughout the specification are not necessarily all referringto the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features,structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner inone or more embodiments. Thus, the particular features, structures, orcharacteristics illustrated or described in connection with oneembodiment may be combined, in whole or in part, with the featuresstructures, or characteristics of one or more other embodiments withoutlimitation. Such modifications and variations are intended to beincluded within the scope of the present invention.

The terms “proximal” and “distal” are used herein with reference to aclinician manipulating the handle portion of the surgical instrument.The term “proximal” referring to the portion closest to the clinicianand the term “distal” referring to the portion located away from theclinician. It will be further appreciated that, for convenience andclarity, spatial terms such as “vertical,” “horizontal,” “up,” and“down” may be used herein with respect to the drawings. However,surgical instruments are used in many orientations and positions, andthese terms are not intended to be limiting and/or absolute.

Various exemplary devices and methods are provided for performinglaparoscopic and minimally invasive surgical procedures. However, theperson of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate that thevarious methods and devices disclosed herein can be used in numeroussurgical procedures and applications including, for example, inconnection with open surgical procedures. As the present DetailedDescription proceeds, those of ordinary skill in the art will furtherappreciate that the various instruments disclosed herein can be insertedinto a body in any way, such as through a natural orifice, through anincision or puncture hole formed in tissue, etc. The working portions orend effector portions of the instruments can be inserted directly into apatient's body or can be inserted through an access device that has aworking channel through which the end effector and elongated shaft of asurgical instrument can be advanced.

FIGS. 1-6 depict a motor-driven surgical cutting and fasteninginstrument 10 that may or may not be reused. In the illustratedembodiment, the instrument 10 includes a housing 12 that comprises ahandle 14 that is configured to be grasped, manipulated and actuated bythe clinician. The housing 12 is configured for operable attachment toan interchangeable shaft assembly 200 that has a surgical end effector300 operably coupled thereto that is configured to perform one or moresurgical tasks or procedures. As the present Detailed Descriptionproceeds, it will be understood that the various unique and novelarrangements of the various forms of interchangeable shaft assembliesdisclosed herein may also be effectively employed in connection withrobotically-controlled surgical systems. Thus, the term “housing” mayalso encompass a housing or similar portion of a robotic system thathouses or otherwise operably supports at least one drive system that isconfigured to generate and apply at least one control motion which couldbe used to actuate the interchangeable shaft assemblies disclosed hereinand their respective equivalents. The term “frame” may refer to aportion of a handheld surgical instrument. The term “frame” may alsorepresent a portion of a robotically controlled surgical instrumentand/or a portion of the robotic system that may be used to operablycontrol a surgical instrument. For example, the interchangeable shaftassemblies disclosed herein may be employed with various roboticsystems, instruments, components and methods disclosed in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/118,241, entitled SURGICAL STAPLING INSTRUMENTSWITH ROTATABLE STAPLE DEPLOYMENT ARRANGEMENTS, now U.S. PatentApplication Publication No. US 2012/0298719. U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 13/118,241, entitled SURGICAL STAPLING INSTRUMENTS WITHROTATABLE STAPLE DEPLOYMENT ARRANGEMENTS, now U.S. Patent ApplicationPublication No. US 2012/0298719, is incorporated by reference herein inits entirety.

The housing 12 depicted in FIGS. 1-3 is shown in connection with aninterchangeable shaft assembly 200 that includes an end effector 300that comprises a surgical cutting and fastening device that isconfigured to operably support a surgical staple cartridge 304 therein.The housing 12 may be configured for use in connection withinterchangeable shaft assemblies that include end effectors that areadapted to support different sizes and types of staple cartridges, havedifferent shaft lengths, sizes, and types, etc. In addition, the housing12 may also be effectively employed with a variety of otherinterchangeable shaft assemblies including those assemblies that areconfigured to apply other motions and forms of energy such as, forexample, radio frequency (RF) energy, ultrasonic energy and/or motion toend effector arrangements adapted for use in connection with varioussurgical applications and procedures. Furthermore, the end effectors,shaft assemblies, handles, surgical instruments, and/or surgicalinstrument systems can utilize any suitable fastener, or fasteners, tofasten tissue. For instance, a fastener cartridge comprising a pluralityof fasteners removably stored therein can be removably inserted intoand/or attached to the end effector of a shaft assembly.

FIG. 1 illustrates the surgical instrument 10 with an interchangeableshaft assembly 200 operably coupled thereto. FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrateattachment of the interchangeable shaft assembly 200 to the housing 12or handle 14. As can be seen in FIG. 4, the handle 14 may comprise apair of interconnectable handle housing segments 16 and 18 that may beinterconnected by screws, snap features, adhesive, etc. In theillustrated arrangement, the handle housing segments 16, 18 cooperate toform a pistol grip portion 19 that can be gripped and manipulated by theclinician. As will be discussed in further detail below, the handle 14operably supports a plurality of drive systems therein that areconfigured to generate and apply various control motions tocorresponding portions of the interchangeable shaft assembly that isoperably attached thereto.

Referring now to FIG. 4, the handle 14 may further include a frame 20that operably supports a plurality of drive systems. For example, theframe 20 can operably support a “first” or closure drive system,generally designated as 30, which may be employed to apply closing andopening motions to the interchangeable shaft assembly 200 that isoperably attached or coupled thereto. In at least one form, the closuredrive system 30 may include an actuator in the form of a closure trigger32 that is pivotally supported by the frame 20. More specifically, asillustrated in FIG. 4, the closure trigger 32 is pivotally coupled tothe housing 14 by a pin 33. Such arrangement enables the closure trigger32 to be manipulated by a clinician such that when the clinician gripsthe pistol grip portion 19 of the handle 14, the closure trigger 32 maybe easily pivoted from a starting or “unactuated” position to an“actuated” position and more particularly to a fully compressed or fullyactuated position. The closure trigger 32 may be biased into theunactuated position by spring or other biasing arrangement (not shown).In various forms, the closure drive system 30 further includes a closurelinkage assembly 34 that is pivotally coupled to the closure trigger 32.As can be seen in FIG. 4, the closure linkage assembly 34 may include afirst closure link 36 and a second closure link 38 that are pivotallycoupled to the closure trigger 32 by a pin 35. The second closure link38 may also be referred to herein as an “attachment member” and includea transverse attachment pin 37.

Still referring to FIG. 4, it can be observed that the first closurelink 36 may have a locking wall or end 39 thereon that is configured tocooperate with a closure release assembly 60 that is pivotally coupledto the frame 20. In at least one form, the closure release assembly 60may comprise a release button assembly 62 that has a distally protrudinglocking pawl 64 formed thereon. The release button assembly 62 may bepivoted in a counterclockwise direction by a release spring (not shown).As the clinician depresses the closure trigger 32 from its unactuatedposition towards the pistol grip portion 19 of the handle 14, the firstclosure link 36 pivots upward to a point wherein the locking pawl 64drops into retaining engagement with the locking wall 39 on the firstclosure link 36 thereby preventing the closure trigger 32 from returningto the unactuated position. See FIG. 18. Thus, the closure releaseassembly 60 serves to lock the closure trigger 32 in the fully actuatedposition. When the clinician desires to unlock the closure trigger 32 topermit it to be biased to the unactuated position, the clinician simplypivots the closure release button assembly 62 such that the locking pawl64 is moved out of engagement with the locking wall 39 on the firstclosure link 36. When the locking pawl 64 has been moved out ofengagement with the first closure link 36, the closure trigger 32 maypivot back to the unactuated position. Other closure trigger locking andrelease arrangements may also be employed.

Further to the above, FIGS. 13-15 illustrate the closure trigger 32 inits unactuated position which is associated with an open, or unclamped,configuration of the shaft assembly 200 in which tissue can bepositioned between the jaws of the shaft assembly 200. FIGS. 16-18illustrate the closure trigger 32 in its actuated position which isassociated with a closed, or clamped, configuration of the shaftassembly 200 in which tissue is clamped between the jaws of the shaftassembly 200. Upon comparing FIGS. 14 and 17, the reader will appreciatethat, when the closure trigger 32 is moved from its unactuated position(FIG. 14) to its actuated position (FIG. 17), the closure release button62 is pivoted between a first position (FIG. 14) and a second position(FIG. 17). The rotation of the closure release button 62 can be referredto as being an upward rotation; however, at least a portion of theclosure release button 62 is being rotated toward the circuit board 100.Referring to FIG. 4, the closure release button 62 can include an arm 61extending therefrom and a magnetic element 63, such as a permanentmagnet, for example, mounted to the arm 61. When the closure releasebutton 62 is rotated from its first position to its second position, themagnetic element 63 can move toward the circuit board 100. The circuitboard 100 can include at least one sensor configured to detect themovement of the magnetic element 63. In at least one embodiment, a Halleffect sensor 65, for example, can be mounted to the bottom surface ofthe circuit board 100. The Hall effect sensor 65 can be configured todetect changes in a magnetic field surrounding the Hall effect sensor 65caused by the movement of the magnetic element 63. The Hall effectsensor 65 can be in signal communication with a microcontroller 7004(FIG. 59), for example, which can determine whether the closure releasebutton 62 is in its first position, which is associated with theunactuated position of the closure trigger 32 and the open configurationof the end effector, its second position, which is associated with theactuated position of the closure trigger 32 and the closed configurationof the end effector, and/or any position between the first position andthe second position.

In at least one form, the handle 14 and the frame 20 may operablysupport another drive system referred to herein as a firing drive system80 that is configured to apply firing motions to corresponding portionsof the interchangeable shaft assembly attached thereto. The firing drivesystem may 80 also be referred to herein as a “second drive system”. Thefiring drive system 80 may employ an electric motor 82, located in thepistol grip portion 19 of the handle 14. In various forms, the motor 82may be a DC brushed driving motor having a maximum rotation of,approximately, 25,000 RPM, for example. In other arrangements, the motormay include a brushless motor, a cordless motor, a synchronous motor, astepper motor, or any other suitable electric motor. The motor 82 may bepowered by a power source 90 that in one form may comprise a removablepower pack 92. As can be seen in FIG. 4, for example, the power pack 92may comprise a proximal housing portion 94 that is configured forattachment to a distal housing portion 96. The proximal housing portion94 and the distal housing portion 96 are configured to operably supporta plurality of batteries 98 therein. Batteries 98 may each comprise, forexample, a Lithium Ion (“LI”) or other suitable battery. The distalhousing portion 96 is configured for removable operable attachment to acontrol circuit board assembly 100 which is also operably coupled to themotor 82. A number of batteries 98 may be connected in series may beused as the power source for the surgical instrument 10. In addition,the power source 90 may be replaceable and/or rechargeable.

As outlined above with respect to other various forms, the electricmotor 82 can include a rotatable shaft (not shown) that operablyinterfaces with a gear reducer assembly 84 that is mounted in meshingengagement with a with a set, or rack, of drive teeth 122 on alongitudinally-movable drive member 120. In use, a voltage polarityprovided by the power source 90 can operate the electric motor 82 in aclockwise direction wherein the voltage polarity applied to the electricmotor by the battery can be reversed in order to operate the electricmotor 82 in a counter-clockwise direction. When the electric motor 82 isrotated in one direction, the drive member 120 will be axially driven inthe distal direction “DD”. When the motor 82 is driven in the oppositerotary direction, the drive member 120 will be axially driven in aproximal direction “PD”. The handle 14 can include a switch which can beconfigured to reverse the polarity applied to the electric motor 82 bythe power source 90. As with the other forms described herein, thehandle 14 can also include a sensor that is configured to detect theposition of the drive member 120 and/or the direction in which the drivemember 120 is being moved.

Actuation of the motor 82 can be controlled by a firing trigger 130 thatis pivotally supported on the handle 14. The firing trigger 130 may bepivoted between an unactuated position and an actuated position. Thefiring trigger 130 may be biased into the unactuated position by aspring 132 or other biasing arrangement such that when the clinicianreleases the firing trigger 130, it may be pivoted or otherwise returnedto the unactuated position by the spring 132 or biasing arrangement. Inat least one form, the firing trigger 130 can be positioned “outboard”of the closure trigger 32 as was discussed above. In at least one form,a firing trigger safety button 134 may be pivotally mounted to theclosure trigger 32 by pin 35. The safety button 134 may be positionedbetween the firing trigger 130 and the closure trigger 32 and have apivot arm 136 protruding therefrom. See FIG. 4. When the closure trigger32 is in the unactuated position, the safety button 134 is contained inthe handle 14 where the clinician cannot readily access it and move itbetween a safety position preventing actuation of the firing trigger 130and a firing position wherein the firing trigger 130 may be fired. Asthe clinician depresses the closure trigger 32, the safety button 134and the firing trigger 130 pivot down wherein they can then bemanipulated by the clinician.

As discussed above, the handle 14 can include a closure trigger 32 and afiring trigger 130. Referring to FIGS. 14-18A, the firing trigger 130can be pivotably mounted to the closure trigger 32. The closure trigger32 can include an arm 31 extending therefrom and the firing trigger 130can be pivotably mounted to the arm 31 about a pivot pin 33. When theclosure trigger 32 is moved from its unactuated position (FIG. 14) toits actuated position (FIG. 17), the firing trigger 130 can descenddownwardly, as outlined above. After the safety button 134 has beenmoved to its firing position, referring primarily to FIG. 18A, thefiring trigger 130 can be depressed to operate the motor of the surgicalinstrument firing system. In various instances, the handle 14 caninclude a tracking system, such as system 800, for example, configuredto determine the position of the closure trigger 32 and/or the positionof the firing trigger 130. With primary reference to FIGS. 14, 17, and18A, the tracking system 800 can include a magnetic element, such aspermanent magnet 802, for example, which is mounted to an arm 801extending from the firing trigger 130. The tracking system 800 cancomprise one or more sensors, such as a first Hall effect sensor 803 anda second Hall effect sensor 804, for example, which can be configured totrack the position of the magnet 802. Upon comparing FIGS. 14 and 17,the reader will appreciate that, when the closure trigger 32 is movedfrom its unactuated position to its actuated position, the magnet 802can move between a first position adjacent the first Hall effect sensor803 and a second position adjacent the second Hall effect sensor 804.Upon comparing FIGS. 17 and 18A, the reader will further appreciatethat, when the firing trigger 130 is moved from an unfired position(FIG. 17) to a fired position (FIG. 18A), the magnet 802 can moverelative to the second Hall effect sensor 804. The sensors 803 and 804can track the movement of the magnet 802 and can be in signalcommunication with a microcontroller on the circuit board 100. With datafrom the first sensor 803 and/or the second sensor 804, themicrocontroller can determine the position of the magnet 802 along apredefined path and, based on that position, the microcontroller candetermine whether the closure trigger 32 is in its unactuated position,its actuated position, or a position therebetween. Similarly, with datafrom the first sensor 803 and/or the second sensor 804, themicrocontroller can determine the position of the magnet 802 along apredefined path and, based on that position, the microcontroller candetermine whether the firing trigger 130 is in its unfired position, itsfully fired position, or a position therebetween.

As indicated above, in at least one form, the longitudinally movabledrive member 120 has a rack of teeth 122 formed thereon for meshingengagement with a corresponding drive gear 86 of the gear reducerassembly 84. At least one form also includes a manually-actuatable“bailout” assembly 140 that is configured to enable the clinician tomanually retract the longitudinally movable drive member 120 should themotor 82 become disabled. The bailout assembly 140 may include a leveror bailout handle assembly 142 that is configured to be manually pivotedinto ratcheting engagement with teeth 124 also provided in the drivemember 120. Thus, the clinician can manually retract the drive member120 by using the bailout handle assembly 142 to ratchet the drive member120 in the proximal direction “PD”. U.S. Patent Application PublicationNo. US 2010/0089970 discloses bailout arrangements and other components,arrangements and systems that may also be employed with the variousinstruments disclosed herein. U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/249,117, entitled POWERED SURGICAL CUTTING AND STAPLING APPARATUSWITH MANUALLY RETRACTABLE FIRING SYSTEM, now U.S. Patent ApplicationPublication No. 2010/0089970, is hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety.

Turning now to FIGS. 1 and 7, the interchangeable shaft assembly 200includes a surgical end effector 300 that comprises an elongated channel302 that is configured to operably support a staple cartridge 304therein. The end effector 300 may further include an anvil 306 that ispivotally supported relative to the elongated channel 302. Theinterchangeable shaft assembly 200 may further include an articulationjoint 270 and an articulation lock 350 (FIG. 8) which can be configuredto releasably hold the end effector 300 in a desired position relativeto a shaft axis SA-SA. Details regarding the construction and operationof the end effector 300, the articulation joint 270 and the articulationlock 350 are set forth in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/803,086,filed Mar. 14, 2013, entitled ARTICULATABLE SURGICAL INSTRUMENTCOMPRISING AN ARTICULATION LOCK. The entire disclosure of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/803,086, filed Mar. 14, 2013, entitledARTICULATABLE SURGICAL INSTRUMENT COMPRISING AN ARTICULATION LOCK ishereby incorporated by reference herein. As can be seen in FIGS. 7 and8, the interchangeable shaft assembly 200 can further include a proximalhousing or nozzle 201 comprised of nozzle portions 202 and 203. Theinterchangeable shaft assembly 200 can further include a closure tube260 which can be utilized to close and/or open the anvil 306 of the endeffector 300. Primarily referring now to FIGS. 8 and 9, the shaftassembly 200 can include a spine 210 which can be configured to fixablysupport a shaft frame portion 212 of the articulation lock 350. See FIG.8. The spine 210 can be configured to, one, slidably support a firingmember 220 therein and, two, slidably support the closure tube 260 whichextends around the spine 210. The spine 210 can also be configured toslidably support a proximal articulation driver 230. The articulationdriver 230 has a distal end 231 that is configured to operably engagethe articulation lock 350. The articulation lock 350 interfaces with anarticulation frame 352 that is adapted to operably engage a drive pin(not shown) on the end effector frame (not shown). As indicated above,further details regarding the operation of the articulation lock 350 andthe articulation frame may be found in U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/803,086. In various circumstances, the spine 210 can comprise aproximal end 211 which is rotatably supported in a chassis 240. In onearrangement, for example, the proximal end 211 of the spine 210 has athread 214 formed thereon for threaded attachment to a spine bearing 216configured to be supported within the chassis 240. See FIG. 7. Such anarrangement facilitates rotatable attachment of the spine 210 to thechassis 240 such that the spine 210 may be selectively rotated about ashaft axis SA-SA relative to the chassis 240.

Referring primarily to FIG. 7, the interchangeable shaft assembly 200includes a closure shuttle 250 that is slidably supported within thechassis 240 such that it may be axially moved relative thereto. As canbe seen in FIGS. 3 and 7, the closure shuttle 250 includes a pair ofproximally-protruding hooks 252 that are configured for attachment tothe attachment pin 37 that is attached to the second closure link 38 aswill be discussed in further detail below. A proximal end 261 of theclosure tube 260 is coupled to the closure shuttle 250 for relativerotation thereto. For example, a U shaped connector 263 is inserted intoan annular slot 262 in the proximal end 261 of the closure tube 260 andis retained within vertical slots 253 in the closure shuttle 250. SeeFIG. 7. Such an arrangement serves to attach the closure tube 260 to theclosure shuttle 250 for axial travel therewith while enabling theclosure tube 260 to rotate relative to the closure shuttle 250 about theshaft axis SA-SA. A closure spring 268 is journaled on the closure tube260 and serves to bias the closure tube 260 in the proximal direction“PD” which can serve to pivot the closure trigger into the unactuatedposition when the shaft assembly is operably coupled to the handle 14.

In at least one form, the interchangeable shaft assembly 200 may furtherinclude an articulation joint 270. Other interchangeable shaftassemblies, however, may not be capable of articulation. As can be seenin FIG. 7, for example, the articulation joint 270 includes a doublepivot closure sleeve assembly 271. According to various forms, thedouble pivot closure sleeve assembly 271 includes an end effectorclosure sleeve assembly 272 having upper and lower distally projectingtangs 273, 274. An end effector closure sleeve assembly 272 includes ahorseshoe aperture 275 and a tab 276 for engaging an opening tab on theanvil 306 in the various manners described in U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 13/803,086, filed Mar. 14, 2013, entitled ARTICULATABLESURGICAL INSTRUMENT COMPRISING AN ARTICULATION LOCK which has beenincorporated by reference herein. As described in further detailtherein, the horseshoe aperture 275 and tab 276 engage a tab on theanvil when the anvil 306 is opened. An upper double pivot link 277includes upwardly projecting distal and proximal pivot pins that engagerespectively an upper distal pin hole in the upper proximally projectingtang 273 and an upper proximal pin hole in an upper distally projectingtang 264 on the closure tube 260. A lower double pivot link 278 includesupwardly projecting distal and proximal pivot pins that engagerespectively a lower distal pin hole in the lower proximally projectingtang 274 and a lower proximal pin hole in the lower distally projectingtang 265. See also FIG. 8.

In use, the closure tube 260 is translated distally (direction “DD”) toclose the anvil 306, for example, in response to the actuation of theclosure trigger 32. The anvil 306 is closed by distally translating theclosure tube 260 and thus the shaft closure sleeve assembly 272, causingit to strike a proximal surface on the anvil 360 in the manner describedin the aforementioned reference U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/803,086. As was also described in detail in that reference, the anvil306 is opened by proximally translating the closure tube 260 and theshaft closure sleeve assembly 272, causing tab 276 and the horseshoeaperture 275 to contact and push against the anvil tab to lift the anvil306. In the anvil-open position, the shaft closure tube 260 is moved toits proximal position.

As indicated above, the surgical instrument 10 may further include anarticulation lock 350 of the types and construction described in furtherdetail in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/803,086 which can beconfigured and operated to selectively lock the end effector 300 inposition. Such arrangement enables the end effector 300 to be rotated,or articulated, relative to the shaft closure tube 260 when thearticulation lock 350 is in its unlocked state. In such an unlockedstate, the end effector 300 can be positioned and pushed against softtissue and/or bone, for example, surrounding the surgical site withinthe patient in order to cause the end effector 300 to articulaterelative to the closure tube 260. The end effector 300 may also bearticulated relative to the closure tube 260 by an articulation driver230.

As was also indicated above, the interchangeable shaft assembly 200further includes a firing member 220 that is supported for axial travelwithin the shaft spine 210. The firing member 220 includes anintermediate firing shaft portion 222 that is configured for attachmentto a distal cutting portion or knife bar 280. The firing member 220 mayalso be referred to herein as a “second shaft” and/or a “second shaftassembly”. As can be seen in FIGS. 8 and 9, the intermediate firingshaft portion 222 may include a longitudinal slot 223 in the distal endthereof which can be configured to receive a tab 284 on the proximal end282 of the distal knife bar 280. The longitudinal slot 223 and theproximal end 282 can be sized and configured to permit relative movementtherebetween and can comprise a slip joint 286. The slip joint 286 canpermit the intermediate firing shaft portion 222 of the firing drive 220to be moved to articulate the end effector 300 without moving, or atleast substantially moving, the knife bar 280. Once the end effector 300has been suitably oriented, the intermediate firing shaft portion 222can be advanced distally until a proximal sidewall of the longitudinalslot 223 comes into contact with the tab 284 in order to advance theknife bar 280 and fire the staple cartridge positioned within thechannel 302 As can be further seen in FIGS. 8 and 9, the shaft spine 210has an elongate opening or window 213 therein to facilitate assembly andinsertion of the intermediate firing shaft portion 222 into the shaftframe 210. Once the intermediate firing shaft portion 222 has beeninserted therein, a top frame segment 215 may be engaged with the shaftframe 212 to enclose the intermediate firing shaft portion 222 and knifebar 280 therein. Further description of the operation of the firingmember 220 may be found in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/803,086.

Further to the above, the shaft assembly 200 can include a clutchassembly 400 which can be configured to selectively and releasablycouple the articulation driver 230 to the firing member 220. In oneform, the clutch assembly 400 includes a lock collar, or sleeve 402,positioned around the firing member 220 wherein the lock sleeve 402 canbe rotated between an engaged position in which the lock sleeve 402couples the articulation driver 360 to the firing member 220 and adisengaged position in which the articulation driver 360 is not operablycoupled to the firing member 200. When lock sleeve 402 is in its engagedposition, distal movement of the firing member 220 can move thearticulation driver 360 distally and, correspondingly, proximal movementof the firing member 220 can move the articulation driver 230proximally. When lock sleeve 402 is in its disengaged position, movementof the firing member 220 is not transmitted to the articulation driver230 and, as a result, the firing member 220 can move independently ofthe articulation driver 230. In various circumstances, the articulationdriver 230 can be held in position by the articulation lock 350 when thearticulation driver 230 is not being moved in the proximal or distaldirections by the firing member 220.

Referring primarily to FIG. 9, the lock sleeve 402 can comprise acylindrical, or an at least substantially cylindrical, body including alongitudinal aperture 403 defined therein configured to receive thefiring member 220. The lock sleeve 402 can comprisediametrically-opposed, inwardly-facing lock protrusions 404 and anoutwardly-facing lock member 406. The lock protrusions 404 can beconfigured to be selectively engaged with the firing member 220. Moreparticularly, when the lock sleeve 402 is in its engaged position, thelock protrusions 404 are positioned within a drive notch 224 defined inthe firing member 220 such that a distal pushing force and/or a proximalpulling force can be transmitted from the firing member 220 to the locksleeve 402. When the lock sleeve 402 is in its engaged position, thesecond lock member 406 is received within a drive notch 232 defined inthe articulation driver 230 such that the distal pushing force and/orthe proximal pulling force applied to the lock sleeve 402 can betransmitted to the articulation driver 230. In effect, the firing member220, the lock sleeve 402, and the articulation driver 230 will movetogether when the lock sleeve 402 is in its engaged position. On theother hand, when the lock sleeve 402 is in its disengaged position, thelock protrusions 404 may not be positioned within the drive notch 224 ofthe firing member 220 and, as a result, a distal pushing force and/or aproximal pulling force may not be transmitted from the firing member 220to the lock sleeve 402. Correspondingly, the distal pushing force and/orthe proximal pulling force may not be transmitted to the articulationdriver 230. In such circumstances, the firing member 220 can be slidproximally and/or distally relative to the lock sleeve 402 and theproximal articulation driver 230.

As can be seen in FIGS. 8-12, the shaft assembly 200 further includes aswitch drum 500 that is rotatably received on the closure tube 260. Theswitch drum 500 comprises a hollow shaft segment 502 that has a shaftboss 504 formed thereon for receive an outwardly protruding actuationpin 410 therein. In various circumstances, the actuation pin 410 extendsthrough a slot 267 into a longitudinal slot 408 provided in the locksleeve 402 to facilitate axial movement of the lock sleeve 402 when itis engaged with the articulation driver 230. A rotary torsion spring 420is configured to engage the boss 504 on the switch drum 500 and aportion of the nozzle housing 203 as shown in FIG. 10 to apply a biasingforce to the switch drum 500. The switch drum 500 can further compriseat least partially circumferential openings 506 defined therein which,referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, can be configured to receive circumferentialmounts 204, 205 extending from the nozzle halves 202, 203 and permitrelative rotation, but not translation, between the switch drum 500 andthe proximal nozzle 201. As can be seen in those Figures, the mounts 204and 205 also extend through openings 266 in the closure tube 260 to beseated in recesses 211 in the shaft spine 210. However, rotation of thenozzle 201 to a point where the mounts 204, 205 reach the end of theirrespective slots 506 in the switch drum 500 will result in rotation ofthe switch drum 500 about the shaft axis SA-SA. Rotation of the switchdrum 500 will ultimately result in the rotation of eth actuation pin 410and the lock sleeve 402 between its engaged and disengaged positions.Thus, in essence, the nozzle 201 may be employed to operably engage anddisengage the articulation drive system with the firing drive system inthe various manners described in further detail in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/803,086.

As also illustrated in FIGS. 8-12, the shaft assembly 200 can comprise aslip ring assembly 600 which can be configured to conduct electricalpower to and/or from the end effector 300 and/or communicate signals toand/or from the end effector 300, for example. The slip ring assembly600 can comprise a proximal connector flange 604 mounted to a chassisflange 242 extending from the chassis 240 and a distal connector flange601 positioned within a slot defined in the shaft housings 202, 203. Theproximal connector flange 604 can comprise a first face and the distalconnector flange 601 can comprise a second face which is positionedadjacent to and movable relative to the first face. The distal connectorflange 601 can rotate relative to the proximal connector flange 604about the shaft axis SA-SA. The proximal connector flange 604 cancomprise a plurality of concentric, or at least substantiallyconcentric, conductors 602 defined in the first face thereof. Aconnector 607 can be mounted on the proximal side of the connectorflange 601 and may have a plurality of contacts (not shown) wherein eachcontact corresponds to and is in electrical contact with one of theconductors 602. Such an arrangement permits relative rotation betweenthe proximal connector flange 604 and the distal connector flange 601while maintaining electrical contact therebetween. The proximalconnector flange 604 can include an electrical connector 606 which canplace the conductors 602 in signal communication with a shaft circuitboard 610 mounted to the shaft chassis 240, for example. In at least oneinstance, a wiring harness comprising a plurality of conductors canextend between the electrical connector 606 and the shaft circuit board610. The electrical connector 606 may extend proximally through aconnector opening 243 defined in the chassis mounting flange 242. SeeFIG. 7. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/800,067, entitled STAPLECARTRIDGE TISSUE THICKNESS SENSOR SYSTEM, filed on Mar. 13, 2013, isincorporated by reference in its entirety. U.S. patent application Ser.No. 13/800,025, entitled STAPLE CARTRIDGE TISSUE THICKNESS SENSORSYSTEM, filed on Mar. 13, 2013, is incorporated by reference in itsentirety. Further details regarding slip ring assembly 600 may be foundin U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/803,086.

As discussed above, the shaft assembly 200 can include a proximalportion which is fixably mounted to the handle 14 and a distal portionwhich is rotatable about a longitudinal axis. The rotatable distal shaftportion can be rotated relative to the proximal portion about the slipring assembly 600, as discussed above. The distal connector flange 601of the slip ring assembly 600 can be positioned within the rotatabledistal shaft portion. Moreover, further to the above, the switch drum500 can also be positioned within the rotatable distal shaft portion.When the rotatable distal shaft portion is rotated, the distal connectorflange 601 and the switch drum 500 can be rotated synchronously with oneanother. In addition, the switch drum 500 can be rotated between a firstposition and a second position relative to the distal connector flange601. When the switch drum 500 is in its first position, the articulationdrive system may be operably disengaged from the firing drive systemand, thus, the operation of the firing drive system may not articulatethe end effector 300 of the shaft assembly 200. When the switch drum 500is in its second position, the articulation drive system may be operablyengaged with the firing drive system and, thus, the operation of thefiring drive system may articulate the end effector 300 of the shaftassembly 200. When the switch drum 500 is moved between its firstposition and its second position, the switch drum 500 is moved relativeto distal connector flange 601. In various instances, the shaft assembly200 can comprise at least one sensor configured to detect the positionof the switch drum 500. Turning now to FIGS. 11 and 12, the distalconnector flange 601 can comprise a Hall effect sensor 605, for example,and the switch drum 500 can comprise a magnetic element, such aspermanent magnet 505, for example. The Hall effect sensor 605 can beconfigured to detect the position of the permanent magnet 505. When theswitch drum 500 is rotated between its first position and its secondposition, the permanent magnet 505 can move relative to the Hall effectsensor 605. In various instances, Hall effect sensor 605 can detectchanges in a magnetic field created when the permanent magnet 505 ismoved. The Hall effect sensor 605 can be in signal communication withthe shaft circuit board 610 and/or the handle circuit board 100, forexample. Based on the signal from the Hall effect sensor 605, amicrocontroller on the shaft circuit board 610 and/or the handle circuitboard 100 can determine whether the articulation drive system is engagedwith or disengaged from the firing drive system.

Referring again to FIGS. 3 and 7, the chassis 240 includes at least one,and preferably two, tapered attachment portions 244 formed thereon thatare adapted to be received within corresponding dovetail slots 702formed within a distal attachment flange portion 700 of the frame 20.Each dovetail slot 702 may be tapered or, stated another way, besomewhat V-shaped to seatingly receive the attachment portions 244therein. As can be further seen in FIGS. 3 and 7, a shaft attachment lug226 is formed on the proximal end of the intermediate firing shaft 222.As will be discussed in further detail below, when the interchangeableshaft assembly 200 is coupled to the handle 14, the shaft attachment lug226 is received in a firing shaft attachment cradle 126 formed in thedistal end 125 of the longitudinal drive member 120. See FIGS. 3 and 6.

Various shaft assembly embodiments employ a latch system 710 forremovably coupling the shaft assembly 200 to the housing 12 and morespecifically to the frame 20. As can be seen in FIG. 7, for example, inat least one form, the latch system 710 includes a lock member or lockyoke 712 that is movably coupled to the chassis 240. In the illustratedembodiment, for example, the lock yoke 712 has a U-shape with two spaceddownwardly extending legs 714. The legs 714 each have a pivot lug 716formed thereon that are adapted to be received in corresponding holes245 formed in the chassis 240. Such arrangement facilitates pivotalattachment of the lock yoke 712 to the chassis 240. The lock yoke 712may include two proximally protruding lock lugs 714 that are configuredfor releasable engagement with corresponding lock detents or grooves 704in the distal attachment flange 700 of the frame 20. See FIG. 3. Invarious forms, the lock yoke 712 is biased in the proximal direction byspring or biasing member (not shown). Actuation of the lock yoke 712 maybe accomplished by a latch button 722 that is slidably mounted on alatch actuator assembly 720 that is mounted to the chassis 240. Thelatch button 722 may be biased in a proximal direction relative to thelock yoke 712. As will be discussed in further detail below, the lockyoke 712 may be moved to an unlocked position by biasing the latchbutton the in distal direction which also causes the lock yoke 712 topivot out of retaining engagement with the distal attachment flange 700of the frame 20. When the lock yoke 712 is in “retaining engagement”with the distal attachment flange 700 of the frame 20, the lock lugs 716are retainingly seated within the corresponding lock detents or grooves704 in the distal attachment flange 700.

When employing an interchangeable shaft assembly that includes an endeffector of the type described herein that is adapted to cut and fastentissue, as well as other types of end effectors, it may be desirable toprevent inadvertent detachment of the interchangeable shaft assemblyfrom the housing during actuation of the end effector. For example, inuse the clinician may actuate the closure trigger 32 to grasp andmanipulate the target tissue into a desired position. Once the targettissue is positioned within the end effector 300 in a desiredorientation, the clinician may then fully actuate the closure trigger 32to close the anvil 306 and clamp the target tissue in position forcutting and stapling. In that instance, the first drive system 30 hasbeen fully actuated. After the target tissue has been clamped in the endeffector 300, it may be desirable to prevent the inadvertent detachmentof the shaft assembly 200 from the housing 12. One form of the latchsystem 710 is configured to prevent such inadvertent detachment.

As can be most particularly seen in FIG. 7, the lock yoke 712 includesat least one and preferably two lock hooks 718 that are adapted tocontact corresponding lock lug portions 256 that are formed on theclosure shuttle 250. Referring to FIGS. 13-15, when the closure shuttle250 is in an unactuated position (i.e., the first drive system 30 isunactuated and the anvil 306 is open), the lock yoke 712 may be pivotedin a distal direction to unlock the interchangeable shaft assembly 200from the housing 12. When in that position, the lock hooks 718 do notcontact the lock lug portions 256 on the closure shuttle 250. However,when the closure shuttle 250 is moved to an actuated position (i.e., thefirst drive system 30 is actuated and the anvil 306 is in the closedposition), the lock yoke 712 is prevented from being pivoted to anunlocked position. See FIGS. 16-18. Stated another way, if the clinicianwere to attempt to pivot the lock yoke 712 to an unlocked position or,for example, the lock yoke 712 was in advertently bumped or contacted ina manner that might otherwise cause it to pivot distally, the lock hooks718 on the lock yoke 712 will contact the lock lugs 256 on the closureshuttle 250 and prevent movement of the lock yoke 712 to an unlockedposition.

Attachment of the interchangeable shaft assembly 200 to the handle 14will now be described with reference to FIG. 3. To commence the couplingprocess, the clinician may position the chassis 240 of theinterchangeable shaft assembly 200 above or adjacent to the distalattachment flange 700 of the frame 20 such that the tapered attachmentportions 244 formed on the chassis 240 are aligned with the dovetailslots 702 in the frame 20. The clinician may then move the shaftassembly 200 along an installation axis IA that is perpendicular to theshaft axis SA-SA to seat the attachment portions 244 in “operableengagement” with the corresponding dovetail receiving slots 702. Indoing so, the shaft attachment lug 226 on the intermediate firing shaft222 will also be seated in the cradle 126 in the longitudinally movabledrive member 120 and the portions of pin 37 on the second closure link38 will be seated in the corresponding hooks 252 in the closure yoke250. As used herein, the term “operable engagement” in the context oftwo components means that the two components are sufficiently engagedwith each other so that upon application of an actuation motion thereto,the components may carry out their intended action, function and/orprocedure.

As discussed above, at least five systems of the interchangeable shaftassembly 200 can be operably coupled with at least five correspondingsystems of the handle 14. A first system can comprise a frame systemwhich couples and/or aligns the frame or spine of the shaft assembly 200with the frame 20 of the handle 14. Another system can comprise aclosure drive system 30 which can operably connect the closure trigger32 of the handle 14 and the closure tube 260 and the anvil 306 of theshaft assembly 200. As outlined above, the closure tube attachment yoke250 of the shaft assembly 200 can be engaged with the pin 37 on thesecond closure link 38. Another system can comprise the firing drivesystem 80 which can operably connect the firing trigger 130 of thehandle 14 with the intermediate firing shaft 222 of the shaft assembly200. As outlined above, the shaft attachment lug 226 can be operablyconnected with the cradle 126 of the longitudinal drive member 120.Another system can comprise an electrical system which can signal to acontroller in the handle 14, such as microcontroller, for example, thata shaft assembly, such as shaft assembly 200, for example, has beenoperably engaged with the handle 14 and/or, two, conduct power and/orcommunication signals between the shaft assembly 200 and the handle 14.For instance, the shaft assembly 200 can include an electrical connector4010 that is operably mounted to the shaft circuit board 610. Theelectrical connector 4010 is configured for mating engagement with acorresponding electrical connector 4000 on the handle control board 100.Further details regaining the circuitry and control systems may be foundin U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/803,086, the entire disclosure ofwhich was previously incorporated by reference herein. The fifth systemmay consist of the latching system for releasably locking the shaftassembly 200 to the handle 14.

Referring again to FIGS. 2 and 3, the handle 14 can include anelectrical connector 4000 comprising a plurality of electrical contacts.Turning now to FIG. 59, the electrical connector 4000 can comprise afirst contact 4001 a, a second contact 4001 b, a third contact 4001 c, afourth contact 4001 d, a fifth contact 4001 e, and a sixth contact 4001f, for example. While the illustrated embodiment utilizes six contacts,other embodiments are envisioned which may utilize more than sixcontacts or less than six contacts. As illustrated in FIG. 59, the firstcontact 4001 a can be in electrical communication with a transistor4008, contacts 4001 b-4001 e can be in electrical communication with amicrocontroller 7004, and the sixth contact 4001 f can be in electricalcommunication with a ground. In certain circumstances, one or more ofthe electrical contacts 4001 b-4001 e may be in electrical communicationwith one or more output channels of the microcontroller 7004 and can beenergized, or have a voltage potential applied thereto, when the handle1042 is in a powered state. In some circumstances, one or more of theelectrical contacts 4001 b-4001 e may be in electrical communicationwith one or more input channels of the microcontroller 7004 and, whenthe handle 14 is in a powered state, the microcontroller 7004 can beconfigured to detect when a voltage potential is applied to suchelectrical contacts. When a shaft assembly, such as shaft assembly 200,for example, is assembled to the handle 14, the electrical contacts 4001a-4001 f may not communicate with each other. When a shaft assembly isnot assembled to the handle 14, however, the electrical contacts 4001a-4001 f of the electrical connector 4000 may be exposed and, in somecircumstances, one or more of the contacts 4001 a-4001 f may beaccidentally placed in electrical communication with each other. Suchcircumstances can arise when one or more of the contacts 4001 a-4001 fcome into contact with an electrically conductive material, for example.When this occurs, the microcontroller 7004 can receive an erroneousinput and/or the shaft assembly 200 can receive an erroneous output, forexample. To address this issue, in various circumstances, the handle 14may be unpowered when a shaft assembly, such as shaft assembly 200, forexample, is not attached to the handle 14. In other circumstances, thehandle 1042 can be powered when a shaft assembly, such as shaft assembly200, for example, is not attached thereto. In such circumstances, themicrocontroller 7004 can be configured to ignore inputs, or voltagepotentials, applied to the contacts in electrical communication with themicrocontroller 7004, i.e., contacts 4001 b-4001 e, for example, until ashaft assembly is attached to the handle 14. Eventhough themicrocontroller 7004 may be supplied with power to operate otherfunctionalities of the handle 14 in such circumstances, the handle 14may be in a powered-down state. In a way, the electrical connector 4000may be in a powered-down state as voltage potentials applied to theelectrical contacts 4001 b-4001 e may not affect the operation of thehandle 14. The reader will appreciate that, eventhough contacts 4001b-4001 e may be in a powered-down state, the electrical contacts 4001 aand 4001 f, which are not in electrical communication with themicrocontroller 7004, may or may not be in a powered-down state. Forinstance, sixth contact 4001 f may remain in electrical communicationwith a ground regardless of whether the handle 14 is in a powered-up ora powered-down state. Furthermore, the transistor 4008, and/or any othersuitable arrangement of transistors, such as transistor 4010, forexample, and/or switches may be configured to control the supply ofpower from a power source 4004, such as a battery 90 within the handle14, for example, to the first electrical contact 4001 a regardless ofwhether the handle 14 is in a powered-up or a powered-down state. Invarious circumstances, the shaft assembly 200, for example, can beconfigured to change the state of the transistor 4008 when the shaftassembly 200 is engaged with the handle 14. In certain circumstances,further to the below, a Hall effect sensor 4002 can be configured toswitch the state of transistor 4010 which, as a result, can switch thestate of transistor 4008 and ultimately supply power from power source4004 to first contact 4001 a. In this way, both the power circuits andthe signal circuits to the connector 4000 can be powered down when ashaft assembly is not installed to the handle 14 and powered up when ashaft assembly is installed to the handle 14.

In various circumstances, referring again to FIG. 59, the handle 14 caninclude the Hall effect sensor 4002, for example, which can beconfigured to detect a detectable element, such as a magnetic element4007 (FIG. 3), for example, on a shaft assembly, such as shaft assembly200, for example, when the shaft assembly is coupled to the handle 14.The Hall effect sensor 4002 can be powered by a power source 4006, suchas a battery, for example, which can, in effect, amplify the detectionsignal of the Hall effect sensor 4002 and communicate with an inputchannel of the microcontroller 7004 via the circuit illustrated in FIG.59. Once the microcontroller 7004 has a received an input indicatingthat a shaft assembly has been at least partially coupled to the handle14, and that, as a result, the electrical contacts 4001 a-4001 f are nolonger exposed, the microcontroller 7004 can enter into its normal, orpowered-up, operating state. In such an operating state, themicrocontroller 7004 will evaluate the signals transmitted to one ormore of the contacts 4001 b-4001 e from the shaft assembly and/ortransmit signals to the shaft assembly through one or more of thecontacts 4001 b-4001 e in normal use thereof. In various circumstances,the shaft assembly 1200 may have to be fully seated before the Halleffect sensor 4002 can detect the magnetic element 4007. While a Halleffect sensor 4002 can be utilized to detect the presence of the shaftassembly 200, any suitable system of sensors and/or switches can beutilized to detect whether a shaft assembly has been assembled to thehandle 14, for example. In this way, further to the above, both thepower circuits and the signal circuits to the connector 4000 can bepowered down when a shaft assembly is not installed to the handle 14 andpowered up when a shaft assembly is installed to the handle 14.

In various embodiments, any number of magnetic sensing elements may beemployed to detect whether a shaft assembly has been assembled to thehandle 14, for example. For example, the technologies used for magneticfield sensing include search coil, fluxgate, optically pumped, nuclearprecession, SQUID, Hall-effect, anisotropic magnetoresistance, giantmagnetoresistance, magnetic tunnel junctions, giant magnetoimpedance,magnetostrictive/piezoelectric composites, magnetodiode,magnetotransistor, fiber optic, magnetooptic, and microelectromechanicalsystems-based magnetic sensors, among others.

Referring to FIG. 59, the microcontroller 7004 may generally comprise amicroprocessor (“processor”) and one or more memory units operationallycoupled to the processor. By executing instruction code stored in thememory, the processor may control various components of the surgicalinstrument, such as the motor, various drive systems, and/or a userdisplay, for example. The microcontroller 7004 may be implemented usingintegrated and/or discrete hardware elements, software elements, and/ora combination of both. Examples of integrated hardware elements mayinclude processors, microprocessors, microcontrollers, integratedcircuits, application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), programmablelogic devices (PLD), digital signal processors (DSP), field programmablegate arrays (FPGA), logic gates, registers, semiconductor devices,chips, microchips, chip sets, microcontrollers, system-on-chip (SoC),and/or system-in-package (SIP). Examples of discrete hardware elementsmay include circuits and/or circuit elements such as logic gates, fieldeffect transistors, bipolar transistors, resistors, capacitors,inductors, and/or relays. In certain instances, the microcontroller 7004may include a hybrid circuit comprising discrete and integrated circuitelements or components on one or more substrates, for example.

Referring to FIG. 59, the microcontroller 7004 may be an LM 4F230H5QR,available from Texas Instruments, for example. In certain instances, theTexas Instruments LM4F230H5QR is an ARM Cortex-M4F Processor Corecomprising on-chip memory of 256 KB single-cycle flash memory, or othernon-volatile memory, up to 40 MHz, a prefetch buffer to improveperformance above 40 MHz, a 32 KB single-cycle serial random accessmemory (SRAM), internal read-only memory (ROM) loaded withStellarisWare® software, 2 KB electrically erasable programmableread-only memory (EEPROM), one or more pulse width modulation (PWM)modules, one or more quadrature encoder inputs (QED analog, one or more12-bit Analog-to-Digital Converters (ADC) with 12 analog input channels,among other features that are readily available. Other microcontrollersmay be readily substituted for use with the present disclosure.Accordingly, the present disclosure should not be limited in thiscontext.

As discussed above, the handle 14 and/or the shaft assembly 200 caninclude systems and configurations configured to prevent, or at leastreduce the possibility of, the contacts of the handle electricalconnector 4000 and/or the contacts of the shaft electrical connector4010 from becoming shorted out when the shaft assembly 200 is notassembled, or completely assembled, to the handle 14. Referring to FIG.3, the handle electrical connector 4000 can be at least partiallyrecessed within a cavity 4009 defined in the handle frame 20. The sixcontacts 4001 a-4001 f of the electrical connector 4000 can becompletely recessed within the cavity 4009. Such arrangements can reducethe possibility of an object accidentally contacting one or more of thecontacts 4001 a-4001 f. Similarly, the shaft electrical connector 4010can be positioned within a recess defined in the shaft chassis 240 whichcan reduce the possibility of an object accidentally contacting one ormore of the contacts 4011 a-4011 f of the shaft electrical connector4010. With regard to the particular embodiment depicted in FIG. 3, theshaft contacts 4011 a-4011 f can comprise male contacts. In at least oneembodiment, each shaft contact 4011 a-4011 f can comprise a flexibleprojection extending therefrom which can be configured to engage acorresponding handle contact 4001 a-4001 f, for example. The handlecontacts 4001 a-4001 f can comprise female contacts. In at least oneembodiment, each handle contact 4001 a-4001 f can comprise a flatsurface, for example, against which the male shaft contacts 4001 a-4001f can wipe, or slide, against and maintain an electrically conductiveinterface therebetween. In various instances, the direction in which theshaft assembly 200 is assembled to the handle 14 can be parallel to, orat least substantially parallel to, the handle contacts 4001 a-4001 fsuch that the shaft contacts 4011 a-4011 f slide against the handlecontacts 4001 a-4001 f when the shaft assembly 200 is assembled to thehandle 14. In various alternative embodiments, the handle contacts 4001a-4001 f can comprise male contacts and the shaft contacts 4011 a-4011 fcan comprise female contacts. In certain alternative embodiments, thehandle contacts 4001 a-4001 f and the shaft contacts 4011 a-4011 f cancomprise any suitable arrangement of contacts.

In various instances, the handle 14 can comprise a connector guardconfigured to at least partially cover the handle electrical connector4000 and/or a connector guard configured to at least partially cover theshaft electrical connector 4010. A connector guard can prevent, or atleast reduce the possibility of, an object accidentally touching thecontacts of an electrical connector when the shaft assembly is notassembled to, or only partially assembled to, the handle. A connectorguard can be movable. For instance, the connector guard can be movedbetween a guarded position in which it at least partially guards aconnector and an unguarded position in which it does not guard, or atleast guards less of, the connector. In at least one embodiment, aconnector guard can be displaced as the shaft assembly is beingassembled to the handle. For instance, if the handle comprises a handleconnector guard, the shaft assembly can contact and displace the handleconnector guard as the shaft assembly is being assembled to the handle.Similarly, if the shaft assembly comprises a shaft connector guard, thehandle can contact and displace the shaft connector guard as the shaftassembly is being assembled to the handle. In various instances, aconnector guard can comprise a door, for example. In at least oneinstance, the door can comprise a beveled surface which, when contactedby the handle or shaft, can facilitate the displacement of the door in acertain direction. In various instances, the connector guard can betranslated and/or rotated, for example. In certain instances, aconnector guard can comprise at least one film which covers the contactsof an electrical connector. When the shaft assembly is assembled to thehandle, the film can become ruptured. In at least one instance, the malecontacts of a connector can penetrate the film before engaging thecorresponding contacts positioned underneath the film.

As described above, the surgical instrument can include a system whichcan selectively power-up, or activate, the contacts of an electricalconnector, such as the electrical connector 4000, for example. Invarious instances, the contacts can be transitioned between anunactivated condition and an activated condition. In certain instances,the contacts can be transitioned between a monitored condition, adeactivated condition, and an activated condition. For instance, themicrocontroller 7004, for example, can monitor the contacts 4001 a-4001f when a shaft assembly has not been assembled to the handle 14 todetermine whether one or more of the contacts 4001 a-4001 f may havebeen shorted. The microcontroller 7004 can be configured to apply a lowvoltage potential to each of the contacts 4001 a-4001 f and assesswhether only a minimal resistance is present at each of the contacts.Such an operating state can comprise the monitored condition. In theevent that the resistance detected at a contact is high, or above athreshold resistance, the microcontroller 7004 can deactivate thatcontact, more than one contact, or, alternatively, all of the contacts.Such an operating state can comprise the deactivated condition. If ashaft assembly is assembled to the handle 14 and it is detected by themicrocontroller 7004, as discussed above, the microcontroller 7004 canincrease the voltage potential to the contacts 4001 a-4001 f. Such anoperating state can comprise the activated condition.

The various shaft assemblies disclosed herein may employ sensors andvarious other components that require electrical communication with thecontroller in the housing. These shaft assemblies generally areconfigured to be able to rotate relative to the housing necessitating aconnection that facilitates such electrical communication between two ormore components that may rotate relative to each other. When employingend effectors of the types disclosed herein, the connector arrangementsmust be relatively robust in nature while also being somewhat compact tofit into the shaft assembly connector portion.

FIGS. 19-22 depict one form of electric coupler or slip ring connector1600 that may be employed with, for example an interchangeable shaftassembly 1200 or a variety of other applications that require electricalconnections between components that rotate relative to each other. Theshaft assembly 1200 may be similar to shaft assembly 200 describedherein and include a closure tube or outer shaft 1260 and a proximalnozzle 1201 (the upper half of nozzle 1201 is omitted for clarity). Inthe illustrated example, the outer shaft 1260 is mounted on a shaftspine 1210 such that the outer tube 1260 may be selectively axiallymovable thereon. The proximal ends of the shaft spine 1210 and the outertube 1260 may be rotatably coupled to a chassis 1240 for rotationrelative thereto about a shaft axis SA-SA. As was discussed above, theproximal nozzle 1201 may include mounts or mounting lugs 1204 (FIG. 20)that protrude inwardly from the nozzle portions and extend throughcorresponding openings 1266 in the outer tube 1260 to be seated incorresponding recesses 1211 in the shaft spine 1210. Thus, to rotate theouter shaft 1260 and spine shaft 1210 and presumably an end effector(not shown) coupled thereto about the shaft axis SA-SA relative to thechassis 1240, the clinician simply rotates the nozzle 1201 asrepresented by arrows “R” in FIG. 19.

When sensors are employed at the end effector or at locations within oron the shaft assembly for example, conductors such as wires and/ortraces (not shown) may be received or mounted within the outer tube 1260or could even be routed along the outer tube 1260 from the sensors to adistal electrical component 1800 mounted within the nozzle 1201. Thus,the distal electrical component 1800 is rotatable with the nozzle 1201about the shaft axis SA-SA. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 20,the electrical component 1800 comprises a connector, battery, etc. thatincludes contacts 1802, 1804, 1806, and 1808 that are laterallydisplaced from each other.

The slip ring connector 1600 further includes a mounting member 1610that includes a cylindrical body portion 1612 that defines an annularmounting surface 1613. A distal flange 1614 may be formed on at leastone end of the cylindrical body portion 1612. The body portion 1612 ofthe mounting member 1610 is sized to be non-rotatably mounted on amounting hub 1241 on the chassis 1240. In the illustrated embodiment,one distal flange 1614 is provided on one end of the body portion 1612.A second flange 1243 is formed on the chassis 1240 such that when thebody portion 1612 is fixedly (non-rotatably) mounted thereon, the secondflange 1243 abuts the proximal end of the body portion 1612.

The slip ring connector 1600 also employs a unique and novel annularcircuit trace assembly 1620 that is wrapped around the annular mountingsurface 1613 of the body portion 1612 such that it is received betweenthe first and second flanges 1614 and 1243. Referring now to FIGS. 21and 22, the circuit trace assembly 1620 may comprise an adhesive-backedflexible substrate 1622 that may be wrapped around the circumference ofthe body portion 1612 (i.e., the annular mounting surface 1613). Priorto being wrapped around the body portion 1612, the flexible substrate1622 may have a “T-shape” with a first annular portion 1624 and a leadportion 1626. As can also be seen in FIGS. 19-21, the circuit traceassembly 1620 may further include circuit traces 1630, 1640, 1650, 1660that may comprise, for example, electrically-conductive gold-platedtraces. However, other electrically-conductive materials may also beused. Each electrically-conductive circuit trace includes an “annularportion” that will form an annular part of the trace when the substrateis wrapped around the body portion 1612 as well as another “leadportion” that extends transversely from or perpendicular from theannular portion. More specifically, referring to FIG. 22, firstelectrically-conductive circuit trace 1630 has a first annular portion1632 and first lead portion 1634. The second electrically-conductivecircuit trace 1640 has a second annular portion 1642 and a second leadportion 1644 extending transversely or perpendicularly therefrom. Thethird electrically conductive circuit trace 1650 has a third annularportion 1652 and a third lead portion 1654 extending transversely orperpendicularly therefrom. The fourth electrically-conductive circuittrace has a fourth annular portion 1662 and a fourth lead portion 1664extending transversely or perpendicularly therefrom. Theelectrically-conductive circuit traces 1630, 1640, 1650, 1660 may beapplied to the flexible substrate 1622 while the substrate is in aplanar orientation (i.e., prior to being wrapped onto the annular bodyportion 1612 of the mounting member 1610) using conventionalmanufacturing techniques. As can be seen in FIG. 22, the annularportions 1632, 1642, 1652, 1662 are laterally displaced from each other.Likewise, the lead portions 1634, 1644, 1654, 1664 are laterallydisplaced from each other.

When the circuit trace assembly 1620 is wrapped around the annularmounting surface 1613 and attached thereto by adhesive, double-sticktape, etc., the ends of the portion of the substrate that contains theannular portions 1632, 1642, 1652, 1664 are butted together such thatthe annular portions 1632, 1642, 1652, 1664 form discrete continuousannular electrically-conductive paths 1636, 1646, 1656, 1666,respectively that extend around the shaft axis SA-SA. Thus, theelectrically-conductive paths 1636, 1646, 1656, and 1666 are laterallyor axially displaced from each other along the shaft axis SA-SA. Thelead portion 1626 may extend through a slot 1245 in the flange 1243 andbe electrically coupled to a circuit board (see e.g., FIG. 7—circuitboard 610) or other suitable electrical component(s).

In the depicted embodiment for example, the electrical component 1800 ismounted within the nozzle 1261 for rotation about the mounting member1610 such that: contact 1802 is in constant electrical contact with thefirst annular electrically-conductive path 1636; contact 1804 is inconstant electrical contact with the second annularelectrically-conductive path 1646; contact 1806 is in constantelectrical contact with the third annular electrically-conductive path1656; and contact 1808 is in constant electrical contact with the fourthelectrically-conductive path 1666. It will be understood however, thatthe various advantages of the slip ring connector 1600 may also beobtained in applications wherein the mounting member 1610 is supportedfor rotation about the shaft axis SA-SA and the electrical component1800 is fixedly mounted relative thereto. It will be further appreciatedthat the slip ring connector 1600 may be effectively employed inconnection with a variety of different components and applicationsoutside the field of surgery wherein it is desirable to provideelectrical connections between components that rotate relative to eachother.

The slip ring connector 1600 comprises a radial slip ring that providesa conductive contact means of passing signal(s) and power to and fromany radial position and after shaft rotation. In applications whereinthe electrical component comprises a battery contact, the batterycontact position can be situated relative to the mounting member tominimize any tolerance stack up between those components. The couplerarrangement may represent a low cost coupling arrangement that can beassembled with minimal manufacturing costs. The gold plated traces mayalso minimize the likelihood of corrosion. The unique and novel contactarrangement facilitates complete clockwise and counterclockwise rotationabout the shaft axis SA-SA while remaining in electrical contact withthe corresponding annular electrically-conductive paths.

FIGS. 23-25 depict one form of electric coupler or slip ring connector1600′ that may be employed with, for example an interchangeable shaftassembly 1200′ or a variety of other applications that requireelectrical connections between components that rotate relative to eachother. The shaft assembly 1200′ may be similar to shaft assembly 1200described herein and include a closure tube or outer shaft 1260 and aproximal nozzle 1201 (the upper half of nozzle 1201 is omitted forclarity). In the illustrated example, the outer shaft 1260 is mounted ona shaft spine 1210 such that the outer tube 1260 may be selectivelyaxially movable thereon. The proximal ends of the shaft spine 1210 andthe outer tube 1260 may be rotatably coupled to a chassis 1240′ forrotation relative thereto about a shaft axis SA-SA. As was discussedabove, the proximal nozzle 1201 may include mounts or mounting lugs thatprotrude inwardly from the nozzle portions and extend throughcorresponding openings 1266 in the outer tube 1260 to be seated incorresponding recesses 1211 in the shaft spine 1210. Thus, to rotate theouter shaft 1260 and spine shaft 1210 and presumably an end effector(not shown) coupled thereto about the shaft axis SA-SA relative to thechassis 1240′, the clinician simply rotates the nozzle 1201 asrepresented by arrows “R” in FIG. 23.

When sensors are employed at the end effector or at locations within oron the shaft assembly for example, conductors such as wires and/ortraces (not shown) may be received or mounted within the outer tube 1260or could even be routed along the outer tube 1260 from the sensors to adistal electrical component 1800′ mounted within the nozzle 1201. Thus,the distal electrical component 1800′ is rotatable with the nozzle 1201and the wires/traces attached thereto. In the embodiment illustrated inFIG. 23, the electrical component 1800 comprises a connector, battery,etc. that includes contacts 1802′, 1804′, 1806′, 1808′ that arelaterally displaced from each other.

The slip ring connector 1600′ further includes a laminated slip ringassembly 1610′ that is fabricated from a plurality of conductive ringsthat are laminated together. More specifically and with reference toFIG. 25, one form of slip ring assembly 1610′ may comprise a firstnon-electrically conductive flange 1670 that forms a distal end of theslip ring assembly 1610′. The flange 1670 may be fabricated from ahigh-heat resistant material, for example. A first electricallyconductive ring 1680 is positioned immediately adjacent the first flange1670. The first electrically conductive ring 1680 may comprise a firstcopper ring 1681 that has a first gold plating 1682 thereon. A secondnon-electrically conductive ring 1672 is adjacent to the firstelectrically-conductive ring 1680. A second electrically-conductive ring1684 is adjacent to the second non-electrically-conductive ring 1672.The second electrically-conductive ring 1684 may comprise a secondcopper ring 1685 that has a second gold plating 1686 thereon. A thirdnon-electrically-conductive ring 1674 is adjacent to the secondelectrically-conductive ring 1684. A third electrically conductive ring1688 is adjacent to the third non-electrically conductive ring 1674. Thethird electrically conductive ring 1688 may comprise a third copper ring1689 that has a third gold plating 1690 thereon. A fourthnon-electrically conductive ring 1676 is adjacent to the thirdelectrically-conductive ring 1688. A fourth electrically conductive ring1692 is adjacent to the fourth non-electrically-conductive ring 1676.The fourth electrically-conductive ring 1692 is adjacent to the fourthnon-electrically conductive ring 1676. A fifth non-electricallyconductive ring 1678 is adjacent to the fourth electrically-conductivering 1692 and forms the proximal end of the mounting member 1610′. Thenon-electrically conductive rings 1670, 1672, 1674, 1676, and 1678 maybe fabricated from the same material. The first electrically-conductivering 1680 forms a first annular electrically-conductive pathway 1700.The second electrically-conductive ring 1682 forms a second annularelectrically-conductive pathway 1702 that is laterally or axially spacedfrom the first annular electrically-conductive pathway 1700. The thirdelectrically-conductive ring 1688 forms a third annular electricallyconductive pathway 1704 that is laterally or axially spaced from thesecond annular electrically-conductive pathway 1702. The fourthelectrically-conductive ring 1692 forms a fourth annularelectrically-conductive pathway 1706 that is laterally or axially spacedfrom the third annular electrically-conductive pathway 1704. The slipring assembly 1610′ comprises a one piece molded high temperatureresistant, non-conductive material with molded in channels forelectromagnetic forming (EMF—Magneformed) copper rings.

As can be seen in FIG. 24, the slip ring connector 1600′ furtherincludes a non-conductive transverse mounting member 1720 that isadapted to be inserted into axially-aligned notches 1710 in each of therings 1670, 1680, 1672, 1684, 1674, 1688, 1676, 1692, and 1678. Thetransverse mounting member 1720 has a first circuit trace 1722 thereonthat is adapted for electrical contact with the first annularelectrically-conductive pathway 1700 when the transverse mounting member1672 is mounted within the notches 1710. Likewise, a second circuittrace 1724 is printed on the transverse mounting member 1720 and isconfigured for electrical contact with the second annular electricallyconductive pathway 1702. A third circuit trace 1726 is printed on thetransverse mounting member 1720 and is configured for electrical contactwith the third annular electrically-conductive pathway 1704. A fourthcircuit trace 1728 is printed on the transverse mounting member 1720 andis configured for electrical contact with the fourth annularelectrically-conductive pathway 1706.

In the arrangement depicted in FIGS. 23-25, the slip ring assembly 1610′is configured to be fixedly (non-rotatably) received on a mounting hub1241′ on the chassis 1240′. The transverse mounting member 1720 isreceived within groove 1243′ formed in the mounting hub 1241′ which actsas a keyway for the transverse mounting member 1720 and which serves toprevent the slip ring assembly 1610′ from rotating relative to themounting hub 1241′.

In the depicted embodiment for example, the electrical component 1800′is mounted within the nozzle 1201 for rotation about the slip ringassembly 1610′ such that: contact 1802′ is in constant electricalcontact with the first annular electrically-conductive path 1700;contact 1804′ is in constant electrical contact with the second annularelectrically-conductive path 1702; contact 1806′ is in constantelectrical contact with the third annular electrically-conductive path1704; and contact 1808′ is in constant electrical contact with thefourth electrically-conductive path 1706. It will be understood however,that the various advantages of the slip ring connector 1600′ may also beobtained in applications wherein the slip ring assembly 1610′ issupported for rotation about the shaft axis SA-SA and the electricalcomponent 1800′ is fixedly mounted relative thereto. It will be furtherappreciated that the slip ring connector 1600′ may be effectivelyemployed in connection with a variety of different components andapplications outside the field of surgery wherein it is desirable toprovide electrical connections between components that rotate relativeto each other.

The slip ring connector 1600′ comprises a radial slip ring that providesa conductive contact means of passing signal(s) and power to and fromany radial position and after shaft rotation. In applications whereinthe electrical component comprises a battery contact, the batterycontact position can be situated relative to the mounting member tominimize any tolerance stack-up between those components. The slip ringconnector 1600′ represents a low cost coupling arrangement that can beassembled with minimal manufacturing costs. The gold plated traces mayalso minimize the likelihood of corrosion. The unique and novel contactarrangement facilitates complete clockwise and counterclockwise rotationabout the shaft axis while remaining in electrical contact with thecorresponding annular electrically-conductive paths.

FIGS. 26-30 depict another form of electric coupler or slip ringconnector 1600″ that may be employed with, for example aninterchangeable shaft assembly 1200″ or a variety of other applicationsthat require electrical connections between components that rotaterelative to each other. The shaft assembly 1200″ may be similar to shaftassemblies 1200 and/or 1200′ described herein except for the differencesnoted below. The shaft assembly 1200″ may include a closure tube orouter shaft 1260 and a proximal nozzle 1201 (the upper half of nozzle1201 is omitted for clarity). In the illustrated example, the outershaft 1260 is mounted on a shaft spine 1210 such that the outer tube1260 may be selectively axially movable thereon. The proximal ends ofthe shaft spine 1210 and the outer tube 1260 may be rotatably coupled toa chassis 1240″ for rotation relative thereto about a shaft axis SA-SA.As was discussed above, the proximal nozzle 1201 may include mounts ormounting lugs that protrude inwardly from the nozzle portions and extendthrough corresponding openings 1266 in the outer tube 1260 to be seatedin corresponding recesses 1211 in the shaft spine 1210. Thus, to rotatethe outer shaft 1260 and spine shaft 1210 and presumably an end effector(not shown) coupled thereto about the shaft axis SA-SA relative to thechassis 1240″, the clinician simply rotates the nozzle 1201.

When sensors are employed at the end effector or at locations within oron the shaft assembly for example, conductors such as wires and/ortraces (not shown) may be received or mounted within the outer tube 1260or could even be routed along the outer tube 1260 from the sensors to adistal electrical component 1800′″ mounted within the nozzle 1201. Inthe illustrated embodiment, for example, the electrical component 1800″is mounted in the nozzle 1201 such that it is substantially aligned withthe shaft axis SA-SA. The distal electrical component 1800″ is rotatableabout the shaft axis SA-SA with the nozzle 1201 and the wires/tracesattached thereto. The electrical component 1800″ may comprise aconnector, a battery, etc. that includes four contacts 1802″, 1804″,1806″, 1808″ that are laterally displaced from each other.

The slip ring connector 1600″ further includes a slip ring assembly1610″ that includes a base ring 1900 that is fabricated from anon-electrically conductive material and has a central mounting bore1902 therethrough. The mounting bore 1902 has a flat surface 1904 and isconfigured for non-rotational attachment to a mounting flange assembly1930 that is supported at a distal end of the chassis 1240″. A distalside 1905 of the base ring 1900 has a series of concentricelectrical-conductive rings 1906, 1908, 1910, and 1912 attached orlaminated thereto. The rings 1906, 1908, 1910, and 1912 may be attachedto the base ring 1900 by any suitable method.

The base ring 1900 may further include a circuit trace extendingtherethrough that is coupled to each of the electrically-conductiverings 1906, 1908, 1910, and 1912. Referring now to FIGS. 28-30, a firstcircuit trace 1922 extends through a first hole 1920 in the base ring1900 and is coupled to the first electrically conductive ring 1906. Thefirst circuit trace 1922 terminates in a first proximal contact portion1924 on the proximal side 1907 of the base ring 1900. See FIG. 30.Similarly, a second circuit trace 1928 extends through a second hole1926 in the base ring 1900 and is coupled to the secondelectrically-conductive ring 1908. The second circuit trace 1928terminates in a second proximal contact 1930 on the proximal side 1907of the base ring 1900. A third circuit trace 1934 extends through athird hole 1932 in the base ring and is attached to the thirdelectrically-conductive ring 1910. The third circuit trace 1934terminates in a third proximal contact 1936 on the proximal side 1907 ofthe base ring. A fourth circuit trace 1940 extends through a fourth hole1938 in the base ring 1900 to be attached to the fourthelectrically-conductive ring 1912. The fourth circuit trace 1940terminates in a fourth proximal contact 1942 on the proximal side 1907of the base ring 1900.

Referring now to FIG. 27, the base ring 1900 is configured to benon-rotatably supported within the nozzle 1201 by a mounting flange 1950that is non-rotatably coupled to the mounting hub portion 1241″ of thechassis 1240″. The mounting hub portion 1241″ may be formed with a flatsurface 1243″ for supporting a transverse mounting member of the type,for example, described above that includes a plurality (preferably four)leads that may be coupled to, for example, a circuit board or othercorresponding electrical components supported on the chassis in thevarious manners and arrangements described herein as well as in U.S.patent application Ser. No. 13/803,086. The transverse support memberhas been omitted for clarity in FIGS. 26 and 27. However, as can be seenin FIGS. 26 and 27, the mounting flange 1950 has a notch 1952 thereinthat is adapted to engage a portion of the flat surface 1243″ on themounting hub portion 1241″. As can be seen in FIG. 27, the mountingflange 1950 may further include a flange hub portion 1954 that comprisesa series of spring tabs 1956 that serve to fixedly attach the base ring1900 to the mounting flange 1950. It will be understood that the closuretube 1260 and spine 1210 extend through the flange hub 1954 and arerotatable relative thereto with the nozzle 1201.

In the depicted embodiment for example, the electrical component 1800″is mounted within the nozzle 1201 for rotation about the slip ringassembly 1610″ such that, for example, contact 1802″ in the component1800″ is in constant electrical contact with rings 1906; contact 1804″is in contact with ring 1908; contact 1806″ is in contact with ring1910; and contact 1808″ is in contact with ring 1912 even when thenozzle 1201 is rotated relative to the chassis 1240″. It will beunderstood however, that the various advantages of the slip ringconnector 1600″ may also be obtained in applications wherein the slipring assembly 1610″ is supported for rotation about the shaft axis SA-SAand the electrical component 1800″ is fixedly mounted relative thereto.It will be further appreciated that the slip ring connector 1600″ may beeffectively employed in connection with a variety of differentcomponents and applications outside the field of surgery wherein it isdesirable to provide electrical connections between components thatrotate relative to each other.

The slip ring connector 1600″ comprises a radial slip ring that providesa conductive contact means of passing signal(s) and power to and fromany radial position and after shaft rotation. In applications whereinthe electrical component comprises a battery contact, the batterycontact position can be situated relative to the mounting member tominimize any tolerance stack-up between those components. The slip ringconnector 1600″ represents a low cost and compact coupling arrangementthat can be assembled with minimal manufacturing costs. The unique andnovel contact arrangement facilitates complete clockwise andcounterclockwise rotation about the shaft axis while remaining inelectrical contact with the corresponding annularelectrically-conductive rings.

FIGS. 31-36 generally depict a motor-driven surgical fastening andcutting instrument 2000. As illustrated in FIGS. 31 and 32, the surgicalinstrument 2000 may include a handle assembly 2002, a shaft assembly2004, and a power assembly 2006 (or “power source” or “power pack”). Theshaft assembly 2004 may include an end effector 2008 which, in certaincircumstances, can be configured to act as an endocutter for clamping,severing, and/or stapling tissue, although, in other instances,different types of end effectors may be used, such as end effectors forother types of surgical devices, graspers, cutters, staplers, clipappliers, access devices, drug/gene therapy devices, ultrasound devices,RF device, and/or laser devices, for example. Several RF devices may befound in U.S. Pat. No. 5,403,312, entitled ELECTROSURGICAL HEMOSTATICDEVICE, which issued on Apr. 4, 1995, and U.S. patent application Ser.No. 12/031,573, entitled SURGICAL FASTENING AND CUTTING INSTRUMENTHAVING RF ELECTRODES, filed Feb. 14, 2008. The entire disclosures ofU.S. Pat. No. 5,403,312, entitled ELECTROSURGICAL HEMOSTATIC DEVICE,which issued on Apr. 4, 1995, and U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/031,573, entitled SURGICAL FASTENING AND CUTTING INSTRUMENT HAVING RFELECTRODES, filed Feb. 14, 2008, are incorporated herein by reference intheir entirety.

Referring primarily to FIGS. 32, 33A and 33B, the handle assembly 2002can be employed with a plurality of interchangeable shaft assembliessuch as, for example, the shaft assembly 2004. Such interchangeableshaft assemblies may comprise surgical end effectors such as, forexample, the end effector 2008 that can be configured to perform one ormore surgical tasks or procedures. Examples of suitable interchangeableshaft assemblies are disclosed in U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationSer. No. 61/782,866, entitled CONTROL SYSTEM OF A SURGICAL INSTRUMENT,filed Mar. 14, 2013. The entire disclosure of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 61/782,866, entitled CONTROL SYSTEM OF A SURGICALINSTRUMENT, filed Mar. 14, 2013, is hereby incorporated by referenceherein in its entirety.

Referring primarily to FIG. 32, the handle assembly 2002 may comprise ahousing 2010 that consists of a handle 2012 that may be configured to begrasped, manipulated and actuated by a clinician. However, it will beunderstood that the various unique and novel arrangements of the variousforms of interchangeable shaft assemblies disclosed herein also may beeffectively employed in connection with robotically-controlled surgicalsystems. Thus, the term “housing” also may encompass a housing orsimilar portion of a robotic system that houses or otherwise operablysupports at least one drive system that is configured to generate andapply at least one control motion which could be used to actuate theinterchangeable shaft assemblies disclosed herein and their respectiveequivalents. For example, the interchangeable shaft assemblies disclosedherein may be employed with various robotic systems, instruments,components and methods disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/118,241, entitled SURGICAL STAPLING INSTRUMENTS WITH ROTATABLE STAPLEDEPLOYMENT ARRANGEMENTS, now U.S. Patent Application Publication No.2012/0298719. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/118,241, entitledSURGICAL STAPLING INSTRUMENTS WITH ROTATABLE STAPLE DEPLOYMENTARRANGEMENTS, now U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0298719is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Referring again to FIG. 32, the handle assembly 2002 may operablysupport a plurality of drive systems therein that can be configured togenerate and apply various control motions to corresponding portions ofthe interchangeable shaft assembly that is operably attached thereto.For example, the handle assembly 2002 can operably support a first orclosure drive system, which may be employed to apply closing and openingmotions to the shaft assembly 2004 while operably attached or coupled tothe handle assembly 2002. In at least one form, the handle assembly 2002may operably support a firing drive system that can be configured toapply firing motions to corresponding portions of the interchangeableshaft assembly attached thereto.

Referring primarily to FIGS. 33A and 33B, the handle assembly 2002 mayinclude a motor 2014 which can be controlled by a motor driver 2015 andcan be employed by the firing system of the surgical instrument 2000. Invarious forms, the motor 2014 may be a DC brushed driving motor having amaximum rotation of, approximately, 25,000 RPM, for example. In otherarrangements, the motor 2014 may include a brushless motor, a cordlessmotor, a synchronous motor, a stepper motor, or any other suitableelectric motor. In certain circumstances, the motor driver 2015 maycomprise an H-Bridge FETs 2019, as illustrated in FIGS. 33A and 33B, forexample. The motor 2014 can be powered by the power assembly 2006 (FIG.35), which can be releasably mounted to the handle assembly 2002, powerassembly 2006 being configured to supply control power to the surgicalinstrument 2000. The power assembly 2006 may comprise a battery 2007(FIG. 36) which may include a number of battery cells connected inseries that can be used as the power source to power the surgicalinstrument 2000. In such configuration, the power assembly 2006 may bereferred to as a battery pack. In certain circumstances, the batterycells of the power assembly 2006 may be replaceable and/or rechargeable.In at least one example, the battery cells can be Lithium-Ion batterieswhich can be separably couplable to the power assembly 2006.

Examples of drive systems and closure systems that are suitable for usewith the surgical instrument 2000 are disclosed in U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application Ser. No. 61/782,866, entitled CONTROL SYSTEM OF ASURGICAL INSTRUMENT, and filed Mar. 14, 2013, the entire disclosure ofwhich is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. For example,the electric motor 2014 can include a rotatable shaft (not shown) thatmay operably interface with a gear reducer assembly that can be mountedin meshing engagement with a set, or rack, of drive teeth on alongitudinally-movable drive member. In use, a voltage polarity providedby the battery 2007 (FIG. 36) can operate the electric motor 2014 todrive the longitudinally-movable drive member to effectuate the endeffector 2008. For example, the motor 2014 can be configured to drivethe longitudinally-movable drive member to advance a firing mechanism tofire staples into tissue captured by the end effector 2008 from a staplecartridge assembled with the end effector 2008 and/or advance a cuttingmember 2011 (FIG. 34) to cut tissue captured by the end effector 2008,for example.

In certain circumstances, the surgical instrument 2000 may comprise alockout mechanism to prevent a user from coupling incompatible handleassemblies and power assemblies. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 35,the power assembly 2006 may include a mating element 2011. In certaincircumstances, the mating element 2011 can be a tab extending from thepower assembly 2006. In certain instances, the handle assembly 2002 maycomprise a corresponding mating element (not shown) for matingengagement with the mating element 2011. Such an arrangement can beuseful in preventing a user from coupling incompatible handle assembliesand power assemblies.

The reader will appreciate that different interchangeable shaftassemblies may possess different power requirements. The power requiredto advance a cutting member through an end effector and/or to firestaples may depend, for example, on the distance traveled by the cuttingmember, the staple cartridge being used, and/or the type of tissue beingtreated. That said, the power assembly 2006 can be configured to meetthe power requirements of various interchangeable shaft assemblies. Forexample, as illustrated in FIG. 34, the cutting member 2011 of the shaftassembly 2004 can be configured to travel a distance D1 along the endeffector 2008. On the other hand, another interchangeable shaft assembly2004′ may include a cutting member 2011′ which can be configured totravel a distance D2, different from the distance D1, along an endeffector 2008′ of the interchangeable shaft assembly 2004′. The powerassembly 2006 can be configured to provide a first power outputsufficient to power the motor 2014 to advance the cutting member 2011the distance D1 while the interchangeable shaft assembly 2004 is coupledto the handle assembly 2002 and can be configured to provide a secondpower output, different from the first power output, which is sufficientto power the motor 2014 to advance the cutting member 2011′ the distanceD2 while the interchangeable shaft assembly 2004′ is coupled to thehandle assembly 2002, for example. As illustrated in FIGS. 33A and 33Band as described below in greater detail, the power assembly 2006 mayinclude a power management controller 2016 (FIG. 36) which can beconfigured to modulate the power output of the power assembly 2006 todeliver a first power output to power the motor 2014 to advance thecutting member 2011 the distance D1 while the interchangeable shaftassembly 2004 is coupled to the handle assembly 2002 and to deliver asecond power output to power the motor 2014 to advance the cuttingmember 2011′ the distance D2 while the interchangeable shaft assembly2004′ is coupled to the handle assembly 2002, for example. Suchmodulation can be beneficial in avoiding transmission of excessive powerto the motor 2014 beyond the requirements of an interchangeable shaftassembly that is coupled to the handle assembly 2002.

Referring again to FIGS. 32-36, the handle assembly 2002 can bereleasably coupled or attached to an interchangeable shaft assembly suchas, for example, the shaft assembly 2004. In certain instances, thehandle assembly 2002 can be releasably coupled or attached to the powerassembly 2006. Various coupling means can be utilized to releasablycouple the handle assembly 2002 to the shaft assembly 2004 and/or to thepower assembly 2006. Exemplary coupling mechanisms are described in U.S.Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/782,866, entitled CONTROLSYSTEM OF A SURGICAL INSTRUMENT, and filed Mar. 14, 2013. For example,the shaft assembly 2004 may include a shaft attachment module 2018 (FIG.32) which may further include a latch actuator assembly that may beconfigured to cooperate with a lock yoke that is pivotally coupled tothe shaft attachment module 2018 for selective pivotal travel relativethereto, wherein the lock yoke may include proximally protruding locklugs that are configured for releasable engagement with correspondinglock detents or grooves formed in a hand assembly attachment module 2020of the handle assembly 2002.

Referring now primarily to FIGS. 33A-36, the shaft assembly 2004 mayinclude a shaft assembly controller 2022 which can communicate with thepower management controller 2016 through an interface 2024 while theshaft assembly 2004 and the power assembly 2006 are coupled to thehandle assembly 2002. For example, the interface 2024 may comprise afirst interface portion 2025 which may include one or more electricconnectors 2026 for coupling engagement with corresponding shaftassembly electric connectors 2028 and a second interface portion 2027which may include one or more electric connectors 2030 for couplingengagement with corresponding power assembly electric connectors 2032 topermit electrical communication between the shaft assembly controller2022 and the power management controller 2016 while the shaft assembly2004 and the power assembly 2006 are coupled to the handle assembly2002. One or more communication signals can be transmitted through theinterface 2024 to communicate one or more of the power requirements ofthe attached interchangeable shaft assembly 2004 to the power managementcontroller 2016. In response, the power management controller maymodulate the power output of the battery 2007 of the power assembly2006, as described below in greater detail, in accordance with the powerrequirements of the attached shaft assembly 2004. In certaincircumstances, one or more of the electric connectors 2026, 2028, 2030,and/or 2032 may comprise switches which can be activated aftermechanical coupling engagement of the handle assembly 2002 to the shaftassembly 2004 and/or to the power assembly 2006 to allow electricalcommunication between the shaft assembly controller 2022 and the powermanagement controller 2016.

In certain circumstances, the interface 2024 can facilitate transmissionof the one or more communication signals between the power managementcontroller 2016 and the shaft assembly controller 2022 by routing suchcommunication signals through a main controller 2017 (FIGS. 33A and 33B)residing in the handle assembly 2002, for example. In othercircumstances, the interface 2024 can facilitate a direct line ofcommunication between the power management controller 2016 and the shaftassembly controller 2022 through the handle assembly 2002 while theshaft assembly 2004 and the power assembly 2006 are coupled to thehandle assembly 2002.

In one instance, the main microcontroller 2017 may be any single core ormulticore processor such as those known under the trade name ARM Cortexby Texas Instruments. In one instance, the surgical instrument 2000 maycomprise a power management controller 2016 such as, for example, asafety microcontroller platform comprising two microcontroller-basedfamilies such as TMS570 and RM4x known under the trade name Hercules ARMCortex R4, also by Texas Instruments. Nevertheless, other suitablesubstitutes for microcontrollers and safety processor may be employed,without limitation. In one instance, the safety processor 1004 may beconfigured specifically for IEC 61508 and ISO 26262 safety criticalapplications, among others, to provide advanced integrated safetyfeatures while delivering scalable performance, connectivity, and memoryoptions.

In certain instances, the microcontroller 2017 may be an LM 4F230H5QR,available from Texas Instruments, for example. In at least one example,the Texas Instruments LM4F230H5QR is an ARM Cortex-M4F Processor Corecomprising on-chip memory of 256 KB single-cycle flash memory, or othernon-volatile memory, up to 40 MHz, a prefetch buffer to improveperformance above 40 MHz, a 32 KB single-cycle serial random accessmemory (SRAM), internal read-only memory (ROM) loaded withStellarisWare® software, 2 KB electrically erasable programmableread-only memory (EEPROM), one or more pulse width modulation (PWM)modules, one or more quadrature encoder inputs (QED analog, one or more12-bit Analog-to-Digital Converters (ADC) with 12 analog input channels,among other features that are readily available for the productdatasheet. The present disclosure should not be limited in this context.

Referring now primarily to FIGS. 36 and 37, the power assembly 2006 mayinclude a power management circuit 2034 which may comprise the powermanagement controller 2016, a power modulator 2038, and a current sensecircuit 2036. The power management circuit 2034 can be configured tomodulate power output of the battery 2007 based on the powerrequirements of the shaft assembly 2004 while the shaft assembly 2004and the power assembly 2006 are coupled to the handle assembly 2002. Forexample, the power management controller 2016 can be programmed tocontrol the power modulator 2038 of the power output of the powerassembly 2006 and the current sense circuit 2036 can be employed tomonitor power output of the power assembly 2006 to provide feedback tothe power management controller 2016 about the power output of thebattery 2007 so that the power management controller 2016 may adjust thepower output of the power assembly 2006 to maintain a desired output, asillustrated in FIG. 37.

It is noteworthy that the power management controller 2016 and/or theshaft assembly controller 2022 each may comprise one or more processorsand/or memory units which may store a number of software modules.Although certain modules and/or blocks of the surgical instrument 2000may be described by way of example, it can be appreciated that a greateror lesser number of modules and/or blocks may be used. Further, althoughvarious instances may be described in terms of modules and/or blocks tofacilitate description, such modules and/or blocks may be implemented byone or more hardware components, e.g., processors, Digital SignalProcessors (DSPs), Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), ApplicationSpecific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), circuits, registers and/orsoftware components, e.g., programs, subroutines, logic and/orcombinations of hardware and software components.

In certain instances, the surgical instrument 2000 may comprise anoutput device 2042 which may include one or more devices for providing asensory feedback to a user. Such devices may comprise, for example,visual feedback devices (e.g., an LCD display screen, LED indicators),audio feedback devices (e.g., a speaker, a buzzer) or tactile feedbackdevices (e.g., haptic actuators). In certain circumstances, the outputdevice 2042 may comprise a display 2043 which may be included in thehandle assembly 2002, as illustrated in FIG. 36. The shaft assemblycontroller 2022 and/or the power management controller 2016 can providefeedback to a user of the surgical instrument 2000 through the outputdevice 2042. The interface 2024 can be configured to connect the shaftassembly controller 2022 and/or the power management controller 2016 tothe output device 2042. The reader will appreciate that the outputdevice 2042 can instead be integrated with the power assembly 2006. Insuch circumstances, communication between the output device 2042 and theshaft assembly controller 2022 may be accomplished through the interface2024 while the shaft assembly 2004 is coupled to the handle assembly2002.

Referring to FIGS. 38 and 39, a surgical instrument 2050 is illustrated.The surgical instrument 2050 is similar in many respects to the surgicalfastening and cutting instrument 2000 (FIG. 31). For example, thesurgical instrument 2050 may include an end effector 2052 which issimilar in many respects to the end effector 2008. For example, the endeffector 2052 can be configured to act as an endocutter for clamping,severing, and/or stapling tissue.

Further to the above, the surgical instrument 2050 may include aninterchangeable working assembly 2054 which may include a handleassembly 2053 and a shaft 2055 extending between the handle assembly2053 and the end effector 2052, as illustrated in FIG. 38. In certaininstances, the surgical instrument 2050 may include a power assembly2056 which can be employed with a plurality of interchangeable workingassemblies such as, for example, the interchangeable working assembly2054. Such interchangeable working assemblies may include surgical endeffectors such as, for example, the end effector 2052 that can beconfigured to perform one or more surgical tasks or procedures. Incertain circumstances, the handle assembly 2053 and the shaft 2055 maybe integrated into a single unit. In other circumstances, the handleassembly 2053 and the shaft 2055 may be separably couplable to eachother.

Similar to the surgical instrument 2000, the surgical instrument 2050may operably support a plurality of drive systems which can be poweredby the power assembly 2056 while the power assembly 2056 is coupled tothe interchangeable working assembly 2054. For example, theinterchangeable working assembly 2054 can operably support a closuredrive system, which may be employed to apply closing and opening motionsto the end effector 2052. In at least one form, the interchangeableworking assembly 2054 may operably support a firing drive system thatcan be configured to apply firing motions to the end effector 2052.Examples of drive systems suitable for use with the surgical instrument2050 are described in U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No.61/782,866, entitled CONTROL SYSTEM OF A SURGICAL INSTRUMENT, and filedMar. 14, 2013, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

Referring to FIG. 39, the power assembly 2056 of the surgical instrument2050 can be separably coupled to an interchangeable working assemblysuch as, for example, the interchangeable working assembly 2054. Variouscoupling means can be utilized to releasably couple the power assembly2056 to the interchangeable working assembly 2054. Exemplary couplingmechanisms are described herein and are described in U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application Ser. No. 61/782,866, entitled CONTROL SYSTEM OF ASURGICAL INSTRUMENT, and filed Mar. 14, 2013, the entire disclosure ofwhich is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Still referring to FIG. 39, the power assembly 2056 may include a powersource 2058 such as, for example, a battery which can be configured topower the interchangeable working assembly 2054 while coupled to thepower assembly 2056. In certain instances, the power assembly 2056 mayinclude a memory 2060 which can be configured to receive and storeinformation about the battery 2058 and/or the interchangeable workingassembly 2054 such as, for example, the state of charge of the battery2058, the number of treatment cycles performed using the battery 2058,and/or identification information for the interchangeable workingassemblies coupled to the power assembly 2056 during the life cycle ofthe battery 2058. Further to the above, the interchangeable workingassembly 2054 may include a controller 2062 which can be configured toprovide the memory 2060 with such information about the battery 2058and/or the interchangeable working assembly 2054.

Still referring to FIG. 39, the power assembly 2056 may include aninterface 2064 which can be configured to facilitate electricalcommunication between the memory 2060 of the power assembly 2056 and acontroller of an interchangeable working assembly that is coupled to thepower assembly 2056 such as, for example, the controller 2062 of theinterchangeable working assembly 2054. For example, the interface 2064may comprise one or more connectors 2066 for coupling engagement withcorresponding working assembly connectors 2068 to permit electricalcommunication between the controller 2062 and the memory 2060 while theinterchangeable working assembly 2054 is coupled to the power assembly2056. In certain circumstances, one or more of the electric connectors2066 and/or 2068 may comprise switches which can be activated aftercoupling engagement of the interchangeable working assembly 2054 and thepower assembly 2056 to allow electric communication between thecontroller 2062 and the memory 2060.

Still referring to FIG. 39, the power assembly 2056 may include a stateof charge monitoring circuit 2070. In certain circumstances, the stateof charge monitoring circuit 2070 may comprise a coulomb counter. Thecontroller 2062 can be in communication with the state of chargemonitoring circuit 2070 while the interchangeable working assembly 2054is coupled to the power assembly 2056. The state of charge monitoringcircuit 2070 can be operable to provide for accurate monitoring ofcharge states of the battery 2058.

FIG. 40 depicts an exemplary module 2072 for use with a controller of aninterchangeable working assembly such as, for example, the controller2062 of the interchangeable working assembly 2054 while coupled to thepower assembly 2056. For example, the controller 2062 may comprise oneor more processors and/or memory units which may store a number ofsoftware modules such as, for example, the module 2072. Although certainmodules and/or blocks of the surgical instrument 2050 may be describedby way of example, it can be appreciated that a greater or lesser numberof modules and/or blocks may be used. Further, although variousinstances may be described in terms of modules and/or blocks tofacilitate description, such modules and/or blocks may be implemented byone or more hardware components, e.g., processors, DSPs, PLDs, ASICs,circuits, registers and/or software components, e.g., programs,subroutines, logic and/or combinations of hardware and softwarecomponents.

In any event, upon coupling the interchangeable working assembly 2054 tothe power assembly 2056, the interface 2064 may facilitate communicationbetween the controller 2062 and the memory 2060 and/or the state ofcharge monitoring circuit 2070 to execute the module 2072, asillustrated in FIG. 40. For example, the controller 2062 of theinterchangeable working assembly 2054 may utilize the state of chargemonitoring circuit 2070 to measure the state of charge of the battery2058. The controller 2062 may then access the memory 2060 and determinewhether a previous value for the state of charge of the battery 2058 isstored in the memory 2060. When a previous value is detected, thecontroller 2060 may compare the measured value to the previously storedvalue. When the measured value is different from the previously storedvalue, the controller 2060 may update the previously stored value. Whenno value is previously recorded, the controller 2060 may store themeasured value into the memory 2060. In certain circumstances, thecontroller 2060 may provide visual feedback to a user of the surgicalinstrument 2050 as to the measured state of charge of the battery 2058.For example, the controller 2060 may display the measured value of thestate of charge of the battery 2058 on an LCD display screen which, insome circumstances, can be integrated with the interchangeable workingassembly 2054.

Further to the above, the module 2072 also can be executed by othercontrollers upon coupling the interchangeable working assemblies of suchother controllers to the power assembly 2056. For example, a user maydisconnect the interchangeable working assembly 2054 from the powerassembly 2056. The user may then connect another interchangeable workingassembly comprising another controller to the power assembly 2056. Suchcontroller may in turn utilize the coulomb counting circuit 2070 tomeasure the state of charge of the battery 2058 and may then access thememory 2060 and determine whether a previous value for the state ofcharge of the battery 2058 is stored in the memory 2060 such as, forexample, a value entered by the controller 2060 while theinterchangeable working assembly 2054 was coupled to the power assembly2056. When a previous value is detected, the controller may compare themeasured value to the previously stored value. When the measured valueis different from the previously stored value, the controller may updatethe previously stored value.

FIG. 41 depicts a surgical instrument 2090 which is similar in manyrespects to the surgical instrument 2000 (FIG. 31) and/or the surgicalinstrument 2050 (FIG. 38). For example, the surgical instrument 2090 mayinclude an end effector 2092 which is similar in many respects to theend effector 2008 and/or the end effector 2052. For example, the endeffector 2092 can be configured to act as an endocutter for clamping,severing, and/or stapling tissue.

Further to the above, the surgical instrument 2090 may include aninterchangeable working assembly 2094 which may include a handleassembly 2093 and a shaft 2095 which may extend between the handleassembly 2093 and the end effector 2092. In certain instances, thesurgical instrument 2090 may include a power assembly 2096 which can beemployed with a plurality of interchangeable working assemblies such as,for example, the interchangeable working assembly 2094. Suchinterchangeable working assemblies may comprise surgical end effectorssuch as, for example, the end effector 2092 that can be configured toperform one or more surgical tasks or procedures. In certaincircumstances, the handle assembly 2093 and the shaft 2095 may beintegrated into a single unit. In other circumstances, the handleassembly 2093 and the shaft 2095 can be separably couplable to eachother.

Furthermore, the power assembly 2096 of the surgical instrument 2090 canbe separably couplable to an interchangeable working assembly such as,for example, the interchangeable working assembly 2094. Various couplingmeans can be utilized to releasably couple the power assembly 2096 tothe interchangeable working assembly 2094. Similar to the surgicalinstrument 2050 and/or the surgical instrument 2000, the surgicalinstrument 2090 may operably support one or more drive systems which canbe powered by the power assembly 2096 while the power assembly 2096 iscoupled to the interchangeable working assembly 2094. For example, theinterchangeable working assembly 2094 may operably support a closuredrive system, which may be employed to apply closing and/or openingmotions to the end effector 2092. In at least one form, theinterchangeable working assembly 2094 may operably support a firingdrive system that can be configured to apply firing motions to the endeffector 2092. Exemplary drive systems and coupling mechanisms for usewith the surgical instrument 2090 are described in greater detail U.S.Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/782,866, entitled CONTROLSYSTEM OF A SURGICAL INSTRUMENT, and filed Mar. 14, 2013, the entiredisclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Referring to FIGS. 41-45, the interchangeable working assembly 2094 mayinclude a motor such as, for example, the motor 2014 (FIG. 44) and amotor driver such as, for example, the motor driver 2015 (FIG. 44) whichcan be employed to motivate the closure drive system and/or the firingdrive system of the interchangeable working assembly 2094, for example.The motor 2014 can be powered by a battery 2098 (FIG. 42) which mayreside in the power assembly 2096. As illustrated in FIGS. 42 and 43,the battery 2098 may include a number of battery cells connected inseries that can be used as a power source to power the motor 2014. Incertain instances, the battery cells of the power assembly 2096 may bereplaceable and/or rechargeable. The battery cells can be Lithium-Ionbatteries which can be separably couplable to the power assembly 2096,for example. In use, a voltage polarity provided by the power assembly2096 can operate the motor 2014 to drive a longitudinally-movable drivemember to effectuate the end effector 2092. For example, the motor 2014can be configured to drive the longitudinally-movable drive member toadvance a cutting member to cut tissue captured by the end effector 2092and/or a firing mechanism to fire staples from a staple cartridgeassembled with the end effector 2092, for example. The staples can befired into tissue captured by the end effector 2092, for example.

Referring now to FIGS. 41-45, the interchangeable working assembly 2094may include a working assembly controller 2102 (FIGS. 44 and 45) and thepower assembly 2096 may include a power assembly controller 2100 (FIGS.42 and 43). The working assembly controller 2102 can be configured togenerate one or more signals to communicate with the power assemblycontroller 2100. In certain instances, the working assembly controller2102 may generate the one or more signals to communicate with the powerassembly controller 2100 by modulating power transmission from the powerassembly 2096 to the interchangeable working assembly 2094 while thepower assembly 2096 is coupled to the interchangeable working assembly2094.

Furthermore, the power assembly controller 2100 can be configured toperform one or more functions in response to receiving the one or moresignals generated by the working assembly controller 2102. For example,the interchangeable working assembly 2094 may comprise a powerrequirement and the working assembly controller 2102 may be configuredto generate a signal to instruct the power assembly controller 2100 toselect a power output of the battery 2098 in accordance with the powerrequirement of the interchangeable working assembly 2094; the signal canbe generated, as described above, by modulating power transmission fromthe power assembly 2096 to the interchangeable working assembly 2094while the power assembly 2096 is coupled to the interchangeable workingassembly 2094. In response to receiving the signal, the power assemblycontroller 2100 may set the power output of the battery 2098 toaccommodate the power requirement of the interchangeable workingassembly 2094. The reader will appreciate that various interchangeableworking assemblies may be utilized with the power assembly 2096. Thevarious interchangeable working assemblies may comprise various powerrequirements and may generate signals unique to their power requirementsduring their coupling engagement with the power assembly 2096 to alertthe power assembly controller 2100 to set the power output of thebattery 2098 in accordance with their power requirements.

Referring now primarily to FIGS. 42 and 43, the power assembly 2096 mayinclude a power modulator control 2106 which may comprise, for example,one or more field-effect transistors (FETs), a Darlington array, anadjustable amplifier, and/or any other power modulator. The powerassembly controller 2100 may actuate the power modulator control 2106 toset the power output of the battery 2098 to the power requirement of theinterchangeable working assembly 2094 in response to the signalgenerated by working assembly controller 2102 while the interchangeableworking assembly 2094 is coupled to the power assembly 2096.

Still referring primarily to FIGS. 42 and 43, the power assemblycontroller 2100 can be configured to monitor power transmission from thepower assembly 2096 to the interchangeable working assembly 2094 for theone or more signals generated by the working assembly controller 2102 ofthe interchangeable working assembly 2094 while he interchangeableworking assembly 2094 is coupled to the power assembly 2096. Asillustrated in FIG. 42, the power assembly controller 2100 may utilize avoltage monitoring mechanism for monitoring the voltage across thebattery 2098 to detect the one or more signals generated by the workingassembly controller 2102, for example. In certain instances, a voltageconditioner can be utilized to scale the voltage of the battery 2098 tobe readable by an Analog to Digital Converter (ADC) of the powerassembly controller 2100. As illustrated in FIG. 42, the voltageconditioner may comprise a voltage divider 2108 which can create areference voltage or a low voltage signal proportional to the voltage ofthe battery 2098 which can be measured and reported to the powerassembly controller 2100 through the ADC, for example.

In other circumstances, as illustrated in FIG. 43, the power assembly2096 may comprise a current monitoring mechanism for monitoring currenttransmitted to the interchangeable working assembly 2094 to detect theone or more signals generated by the working assembly controller 2102,for example. In certain instances, the power assembly 2096 may comprisea current sensor 2110 which can be utilized to monitor currenttransmitted to the interchangeable working assembly 2094. The monitoredcurrent can be reported to the power assembly controller 2100 through anADC, for example. In other circumstances, the power assembly controller2100 may be configured to simultaneously monitor both of the currenttransmitted to the interchangeable working assembly 2094 and thecorresponding voltage across the battery 2098 to detect the one or moresignals generated by the working assembly controller 2102. The readerwill appreciate that various other mechanisms for monitoring currentand/or voltage can be utilized by the power assembly controller 2100 todetect the one or more signals generated by the working assemblycontroller 2102; all such mechanisms are contemplated by the presentdisclosure.

As illustrated in FIG. 44, the working assembly controller 2102 can beconfigured to generate the one or more signals for communication withthe power assembly controller 2100 by effectuating the motor driver 2015to modulate the power transmitted to the motor 2014 from the battery2098. In result, the voltage across the battery 2098 and/or the currentdrawn from the battery 2098 to power the motor 2014 may form discretepatterns or waveforms that represent the one or more signals. Asdescribed above, the power assembly controller 2100 can be configured tomonitor the voltage across the battery 2098 and/or the current drawnfrom the battery 2098 for the one or more signals generated by theworking assembly controller 2102.

Upon detecting a signal, the power assembly controller 2100 can beconfigured to perform one or more functions that correspond to thedetected signal. In at least one example, upon detecting a first signal,the power assembly controller 2100 can be configured to actuate thepower modulator control 2106 to set the power output of the battery 2098to a first duty cycle. In at least one example, upon detecting a secondsignal, the power assembly controller 2100 can be configured to actuatethe power modulator control 2106 to set the power output of the battery2098 to a second duty cycle different from the first duty cycle.

In certain circumstances, as illustrated in FIG. 45, the interchangeableworking assembly 2094 may include a power modulation circuit 2012 whichmay comprise one or more field-effect transistors (FETs) which can becontrolled by the working assembly controller 2102 to generate a signalor a waveform recognizable by the power assembly controller 2100. Forexample, in certain circumstances, the working assembly controller 2102may operate the power modulation circuit 2012 to amplify the voltagehigher than the voltage of the battery 2098 to trigger a new power modeof the power assembly 2096, for example.

Referring now primarily to FIGS. 42 and 43, the power assembly 2096 maycomprise a switch 2104 which can be switchable between an open positionand a closed position. The switch 2104 can be transitioned from the openposition to the closed positioned when the power assembly 2096 iscoupled with the interchangeable working assembly 2094, for example. Incertain instances, the switch 2104 can be manually transitioned from theopen position to the closed position after the power assembly 2096 iscoupled with the interchangeable working assembly 2094, for example.While the switch 2104 is in the open position, components of the powerassembly 2096 may draw sufficiently low or no power to retain capacityof the battery 2098 for clinical use. The switch 2104 can be amechanical, reed, hall, or any other suitable switching mechanism.Furthermore, in certain circumstances, the power assembly 2096 mayinclude an optional power supply 2105 which may be configured to providesufficient power to various components of the power assembly 2096 duringuse of the battery 2098. Similarly, the interchangeable working assembly2094 also may include an optional power supply 2107 which can beconfigured to provide sufficient power to various components of theinterchangeable working assembly 2094.

In use, as illustrated in FIG. 46, the power assembly 2096 can becoupled to the interchangeable working assembly 2094. In certaininstances, as described above, the switch 2104 can be transitioned tothe closed configuration to electrically connect the interchangeableworking assembly 2094 to the power assembly 2096. In response, theinterchangeable working assembly 2094 may power up and may, at leastinitially, draw relatively low current from the battery 2098. Forexample, the interchangeable working assembly 2094 may draw less than orequal to 1 ampere to power various components of the interchangeableworking assembly 2094. In certain instances, the power assembly 2096also may power up as the switch 2014 is transitioned to the closedposition. In response, the power assembly controller 2100 may begin tomonitor current draw from the interchangeable working assembly 2094, asdescribed in greater detail above, by monitoring voltage across thebattery 2098 and/or current transmission from the battery 2098 to theinterchangeable working assembly 2094, for example.

To generate and transmit a communication signal to the power assemblycontroller 2100 via power modulation, the working assembly controller2102 may employ the motor drive 2015 to pulse power to the motor 2014 inpatterns or waveforms of power spikes, for example. In certaincircumstances, the working assembly controller 2102 can be configured tocommunicate with the motor driver 2015 to rapidly switch the directionof motion of the motor 2014 by rapidly switching the voltage polarityacross the windings of the motor 2014 to limit the effective currenttransmission to the motor 2014 resulting from the power spikes. Inresult, as illustrated in FIG. 47C, the effective motor displacementresulting from the power spikes can be reduced to minimize effectivedisplacement of a drive system of the surgical instrument 2090 that iscoupled to the motor 2014 in response to the power spikes.

Further to the above, the working assembly controller 2102 maycommunicate with the power assembly controller 2100 by employing themotor driver 2015 to draw power from the battery 2098 in spikes arrangedin predetermined packets or groups which can be repeated overpredetermined time periods to form patterns detectable by the powerassembly controller 2100. For example, as illustrated in FIGS. 47A and47B, the power assembly controller 2100 can be configured to monitorvoltage across the battery 2100 for predetermined voltage patterns suchas, for example, the voltage pattern 2103 (FIG. 47A) and/orpredetermined current patterns such as, for example, the current pattern2109 (FIG. 47B) using voltage and/or current monitoring mechanisms asdescribed in greater detail above. Furthermore, the power assemblycontroller 2100 can be configured to perform one or more functions upondetecting of a pattern. The reader will appreciate that thecommunication between the power assembly controller 2100 and the workingassembly controller 2102 via power transmission modulation may reducethe number of connection lines needed between the interchangeableworking assembly 2094 and the power assembly 2096.

In certain circumstances, the power assembly 2096 can be employed withvarious interchangeable working assemblies of multiple generations whichmay comprise different power requirements. Some of the variousinterchangeable workings assemblies may comprise communication systems,as described above, while others may lack such communication systems.For example, the power assembly 2096 can be utilized with a firstgeneration interchangeable working assembly which lacks thecommunication system described above. Alternatively, the power assembly2096 can be utilized with a second generation interchangeable workingassembly such as, for example, the interchangeable working assembly 2094which comprises a communication system, as described above.

Further to the above, the first generation interchangeable workingassembly may comprise a first power requirement and the secondgeneration interchangeable working assembly may comprise a second powerrequirement which can be different from the first power requirement. Forexample, the first power requirement may be less than the second powerrequirement. To accommodate the first power requirement of the firstgeneration interchangeable working assembly and the second powerrequirement of the second generation interchangeable working assembly,the power assembly 2096 may comprise a first power mode for use with thefirst generation interchangeable working assembly and a second powermode for use with the second generation interchangeable workingassembly. In certain instances, the power assembly 2096 can beconfigured to operate at a default first power mode corresponding to thepower requirement of the first generation interchangeable workingassembly. As such, when a first generation interchangeable workingassembly is connected to the power assembly 2096, the default firstpower mode of the power assembly 2096 may accommodate the first powerrequirement of the first generation interchangeable working assembly.However, when a second generation interchangeable working assembly suchas, for example, the interchangeable working assembly 2094 is connectedto the power assembly 2096, the working assembly controller 2102 of theinterchangeable working assembly 2094 may communicate, as describedabove, with the power assembly controller 2100 of the power assembly2096 to switch the power assembly 2096 to the second power mode toaccommodate the second power requirement of the interchangeable workingassembly 2094. The reader will appreciate that since the firstgeneration interchangeable working assembly lacks the ability togenerate a communication signal, the power assembly 2096 will remain inthe default first power mode while connected to the first generationinterchangeable working assembly.

As described above, the battery 2098 can be rechargeable. In certaincircumstances, it may be desirable to drain the battery 2098 prior toshipping the power assembly 2096. A dedicated drainage circuit can beactivated to drain the battery 2098 in preparation for shipping of thepower assembly 2096. Upon reaching its final destination, the battery2098 can be recharged for use during a surgical procedure. However, thedrainage circuit may continue to consume energy from the battery 2098during clinical use. In certain circumstances, the interchangeableworking assembly controller 2102 can be configured to transmit adrainage circuit deactivation signal to the power assembly controller2100 by modulating power transmission from the battery 2098 to the motor2014, as described in greater detail above. The power assemblycontroller 2100 can be programmed to deactivate the drainage circuit toprevent drainage of the battery 2098 by the drainage circuit in responseto the drainage circuit deactivation signal, for example. The readerwill appreciate that various communication signals can be generated bythe working assembly controller 2102 to instruct the power assemblycontroller 2100 to perform various functions while the power assembly2096 is coupled to the interchangeable working assembly 2094.

Referring again to FIGS. 42-45, the power assembly controller 2100and/or the working assembly controller 2102 may comprise one or moreprocessors and/or memory units which may store a number of softwaremodules. Although certain modules and/or blocks of the surgicalinstrument 2050 may be described by way of example, it can beappreciated that a greater or lesser number of modules and/or blocks maybe used. Further, although various instances may be described in termsof modules and/or blocks to facilitate description, such modules and/orblocks may be implemented by one or more hardware components, e.g.,processors, DSPs, PLDs, ASICs, circuits, registers and/or softwarecomponents, e.g., programs, subroutines, logic and/or combinations ofhardware and software components.

FIG. 48 generally depicts a motor-driven surgical instrument 2200. Incertain circumstances, the surgical instrument 2200 may include a handleassembly 2202, a shaft assembly 2204, and a power assembly 2206 (or“power source” or “power pack”). The shaft assembly 2204 may include anend effector 2208 which, in certain circumstances, can be configured toact as an endocutter for clamping, severing, and/or stapling tissue,although, in other circumstances, different types of end effectors maybe used, such as end effectors for other types of surgical devices,graspers, cutters, staplers, clip appliers, access devices, drug/genetherapy devices, ultrasound, RF and/or laser devices, etc. Several RFdevices may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,403,312, entitledELECTROSURGICAL HEMOSTATIC DEVICE, which issued on Apr. 4, 1995, andU.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/031,573, entitled SURGICAL FASTENINGAND CUTTING INSTRUMENT HAVING RF ELECTRODES, filed Feb. 14, 2008, theentire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference intheir entirety.

In certain circumstances, the handle assembly 2202 can be separablycouplable to the shaft assembly 2204, for example. In suchcircumstances, the handle assembly 2202 can be employed with a pluralityof interchangeable shaft assemblies which may comprise surgical endeffectors such as, for example, the end effector 2208 that can beconfigured to perform one or more surgical tasks or procedures. Forexample, one or more of the interchangeable shaft assemblies may employend effectors that are adapted to support different sizes and types ofstaple cartridges, have different shaft lengths, sizes, and types, etc.Examples of suitable interchangeable shaft assemblies are disclosed inU.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/782,866, entitledCONTROL SYSTEM OF A SURGICAL INSTRUMENT, and filed Mar. 14, 2013, theentire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein inits entirety.

Referring still to FIG. 48, the handle assembly 2202 may comprise ahousing 2210 that consists of a handle 2212 that may be configured to begrasped, manipulated, and/or actuated by a clinician. However, it willbe understood that the various unique and novel arrangements of thehousing 2210 also may be effectively employed in connection withrobotically-controlled surgical systems. Thus, the term “housing” alsomay encompass a housing or similar portion of a robotic system thathouses or otherwise operably supports at least one drive system that isconfigured to generate and apply at least one control motion which couldbe used to actuate the shaft assembly 2204 disclosed herein and itsrespective equivalents. For example, the housing 2210 disclosed hereinmay be employed with various robotic systems, instruments, componentsand methods disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/118,241,entitled SURGICAL STAPLING INSTRUMENTS WITH ROTATABLE STAPLE DEPLOYMENTARRANGEMENTS, now U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0298719,which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

In at least one form, the surgical instrument 2200 may be a surgicalfastening and cutting instrument. Furthermore, the housing 2210 mayoperably support one or more drive systems. For example, as illustratedin FIG. 50, the housing 2210 may support a drive system referred toherein as firing drive system 2214 that is configured to apply firingmotions to the end effector 2208. The firing drive system 2214 mayemploy an electric motor 2216, which can be located in the handle 2212,for example. In various forms, the motor 2216 may be a DC brusheddriving motor having a maximum rotation of, approximately, 25,000 RPM,for example. In other arrangements, the motor may include a brushlessmotor, a cordless motor, a synchronous motor, a stepper motor, or anyother suitable electric motor. A battery 2218 (or “power source” or“power pack”), such as a Li ion battery, for example, may be coupled tothe handle 2212 to supply power to a control circuit board assembly 2220and ultimately to the motor 2216.

In certain circumstances, referring still to FIG. 50, the electric motor2216 can include a rotatable shaft (not shown) that may operablyinterface with a gear reducer assembly 2222 that may be mounted inmeshing engagement with a with a set, or rack, of drive teeth 2224 on alongitudinally-movable drive member 2226. In use, a voltage polarityprovided by the battery 2218 can operate the electric motor 2216 in aclockwise direction wherein the voltage polarity applied to the electricmotor by the battery 2218 can be reversed in order to operate theelectric motor 2216 in a counter-clockwise direction. When the electricmotor 2216 is rotated in one direction, the drive member 2226 will beaxially driven in a distal direction “D”, for example, and when themotor 2216 is driven in the opposite rotary direction, the drive member2226 will be axially driven in a proximal direction “P”, for example, asillustrated in FIG. 50. The handle 2212 can include a switch which canbe configured to reverse the polarity applied to the electric motor 2216by the battery 2218. As with the other forms described herein, thehandle 2212 also can include a sensor that is configured to detect theposition of the drive member 2226 and/or the direction in which thedrive member 2226 is being moved.

As indicated above, in at least one form, the longitudinally movabledrive member 2226 may include a rack of drive teeth 2224 formed thereonfor meshing engagement with the gear reducer assembly 2222. In certaincircumstances, as illustrated in FIG. 50, the surgical instrument 2200may include a manually-actuatable “bailout” assembly 2228 that can beconfigured to enable a clinician to manually retract the longitudinallymovable drive member 2226 when a bailout error is detected such as, forexample, when the motor 2216 malfunctions during operation of thesurgical instrument 2200 which may cause tissue captured by the endeffector 2208 to be trapped.

Further to the above, as illustrated in FIG. 50, the bailout assembly2228 may include a lever or bailout handle 2230 configured to bemanually moved or pivoted into ratcheting engagement with the teeth 2224in the drive member 2226. In such circumstances, the clinician canmanually retract the drive member 2226 by using the bailout handle 2230to ratchet the drive member 2226 in the proximal direction “P”, forexample, to release the trapped tissue from the end effector 2208, forexample. Exemplary bailout arrangements and other components,arrangements and systems that may be employed with the variousinstruments disclosed herein are disclosed in U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 12/249,117, entitled POWERED SURGICAL CUTTING AND STAPLINGAPPARATUS WITH MANUALLY RETRACTABLE FIRING SYSTEM, now U.S. PatentApplication Publication No. 2010/0089970, which is hereby incorporatedby reference herein in its entirety.

Further to the above, referring now primarily to FIGS. 48 and 50, thebailout handle 2230 of the bailout assembly 2228 may reside within thehousing 2210 of the handle assembly 2202. In certain circumstances,access to the bailout handle 2230 can be controlled by a bailout door2232. The bailout door 2232 can be releasably locked to the housing 2210to control access to the bailout handle 2230. As illustrated in FIG. 48,the bailout door 2232 may include a locking mechanism such as, forexample, a snap-type locking mechanism 2234 for locking engagement withthe housing 2210. Other locking mechanisms for locking the bailout door2232 to the housing 2210 are contemplated by the present disclosure. Inuse, a clinician may obtain access to the bailout handle 2230 byunlocking the locking mechanism 2234 and opening the bailout door 2232.In at least one example, the bailout door 2232 can be separably coupledto the housing 2232 and can be detached from the housing 2210 to provideaccess to the bailout handle 2230, for example. In another example, thebailout door 2232 can be pivotally coupled to the housing 2210 viahinges (not shown) and can be pivoted relative to the housing 2210 toprovide access to the bailout handle 2230, for example. In yet anotherexample, the bailout door 2232 can be a sliding door which can beslidably movable relative to the housing 2210 to provide access to thebailout handle 2230.

Referring now to FIG. 51, the surgical instrument 2200 may include abailout feedback system 2236 which can be configured to guide and/orprovide feedback to a clinician through the various steps of utilizingthe bailout assembly 2228, as described below in greater detail. Incertain instances, the bailout feedback system 2236 may include amicrocontroller 2238 and/or one or more bailout feedback elements. Theelectrical and electronic circuit elements associated with the bailoutfeedback system 2236 and/or the bailout feedback elements may besupported by the control circuit board assembly 2220, for example. Themicrocontroller 2238 may generally comprise a memory 2240 and amicroprocessor 2242 (“processor”) operationally coupled to the memory2240. The processor 2242 may control a motor driver 2244 circuitgenerally utilized to control the position and velocity of the motor2216. In certain instances, the processor 2242 can signal the motordriver 2244 to stop and/or disable the motor 2216, as described ingreater detail below. In certain instances, the processor 2242 maycontrol a separate motor override circuit which may comprise a motoroverride switch that can stop and/or disable the motor 2216 duringoperation of the surgical instrument 2200 in response to an overridesignal from the processor 2242. It should be understood that the termprocessor as used herein includes any suitable microprocessor,microcontroller, or other basic computing device that incorporates thefunctions of a computer's central processing unit (CPU) on an integratedcircuit or at most a few integrated circuits. The processor is amultipurpose, programmable device that accepts digital data as input,processes it according to instructions stored in its memory, andprovides results as output. It is an example of sequential digitallogic, as it has internal memory. Processors operate on numbers andsymbols represented in the binary numeral system.

In one instance, the processor 2242 may be any single core or multicoreprocessor such as those known under the trade name ARM Cortex by TexasInstruments. In one instance, the surgical instrument 2200 may comprisea safety processor such as, for example, a safety microcontrollerplatform comprising two microcontroller-based families such as TMS570and RM4x known under the trade name Hercules ARM Cortex R4, also byTexas Instruments. Nevertheless, other suitable substitutes formicrocontrollers and safety processor may be employed, withoutlimitation. In one instance, the safety processor 1004 may be configuredspecifically for IEC 61508 and ISO 26262 safety critical applications,among others, to provide advanced integrated safety features whiledelivering scalable performance, connectivity, and memory options.

In certain instances, the microcontroller 2238 may be an LM 4F230H5QR,available from Texas Instruments, for example. In at least one example,the Texas Instruments LM4F230H5QR is an ARM Cortex-M4F Processor Corecomprising on-chip memory 2240 of 256 KB single-cycle flash memory, orother non-volatile memory, up to 40 MHz, a prefetch buffer to improveperformance above 40 MHz, a 32 KB single-cycle serial random accessmemory (SRAM), internal read-only memory (ROM) loaded withStellarisWare® software, 2 KB electrically erasable programmableread-only memory (EEPROM), one or more pulse width modulation (PWM)modules, one or more quadrature encoder inputs (QED analog, one or more12-bit Analog-to-Digital Converters (ADC) with 12 analog input channels,among other features that are readily available for the productdatasheet. Other microcontrollers may be readily substituted for use inthe bailout feedback system 2236. Accordingly, the present disclosureshould not be limited in this context.

Referring again to FIG. 51, the bailout feedback system 2236 may includea bailout door feedback element 2246, for example. In certain instances,the bailout door feedback element 2246 can be configured to alert theprocessor 2242 that the locking mechanism 2234 is unlocked. In at leastone example, the bailout door feedback element 2246 may comprise aswitch circuit (not shown) operably coupled to the processor 2242; theswitch circuit can be configured to be transitioned to an openconfiguration when the locking mechanism 2234 is unlocked by a clinicianand/or transitioned to a closed configuration when the locking mechanism2234 is locked by the clinician, for example. In at least one example,the bailout door feedback element 2246 may comprise at least one sensor(not shown) operably coupled to the processor 2242; the sensor can beconfigured to be triggered when the locking mechanism 2234 istransitioned to unlocked and/or locked configurations by the clinician,for example. The reader will appreciate that the bailout door feedbackelement 2246 may include other means for detecting the locking and/orunlocking of the locking mechanism 2234 by the clinician.

In certain instances, the bailout door feedback element 2246 maycomprise a switch circuit (not shown) operably coupled to the processor2242; the switch circuit can be configured to be transitioned to an openconfiguration when the bailout door 2232 is removed or opened, forexample, and/or transitioned to a closed configuration when the bailoutdoor 2232 is installed or closed, for example. In at least one example,the bailout door feedback element 2246 may comprise at least one sensor(not shown) operably coupled to the processor 2242; the sensor can beconfigured to be triggered when the bailout door 2232 is removed oropened, for example, and/or when the bailout door 2232 is closed orinstalled, for example. The reader will appreciate that the bailout doorfeedback element 2246 may include other means for detecting the lockingand/or unlocking of the locking mechanism 2234 and/or the opening and/orclosing of the bailout door 2232 by the clinician.

In certain instances, as illustrated in FIG. 51, the bailout feedbacksystem 2236 may comprise one or more additional feedback elements 2248which may comprise additional switch circuits and/or sensors in operablecommunication with the processor 2242; the additional switch circuitsand/or sensors may be employed by the processor 2242 to measure otherparameters associated with the bailout feedback system 2236. In certaininstances, the bailout feedback system 2236 may comprise one or moreinterfaces which may include one or more devices for providing a sensoryfeedback to a user. Such devices may comprise, for example, visualfeedback devices such as display screens and/or LED indicators, forexample. In certain instances, such devices may comprise audio feedbackdevices such as speakers and/or buzzers, for example. In certaininstances, such devices may comprise tactile feedback devices such ashaptic actuators, for example. In certain instances, such devices maycomprise combinations of visual feedback devices, audio feedbackdevices, and/or tactile feedback devices. In certain circumstances, asillustrated in FIG. 48, the one or more interfaces may comprise adisplay 2250 which may be included in the handle assembly 2202, forexample. In certain instances, the processor 2242 may employ the display2250 to alert, guide, and/or provide feedback to a user of the surgicalinstrument 2200 with regard to performing a manual bailout of thesurgical instrument 2200 using the bailout assembly 2228.

In certain instances, the bailout feedback system 2236 may comprise oneor more embedded applications implemented as firmware, software,hardware, or any combination thereof. In certain instances, the bailoutfeedback system 2236 may comprise various executable modules such assoftware, programs, data, drivers, and/or application program interfaces(APIs), for example. FIG. 52 depicts an exemplary module 2252 that canbe stored in the memory 2240, for example. The module 2252 can beexecuted by the processor 2242, for example, to alert, guide, and/orprovide feedback to a user of the surgical instrument 2200 with regardto performing a manual bailout of the surgical instrument 2200 using thebailout assembly 2228.

As illustrated in FIG. 52, the module 2252 may be executed by theprocessor 2242 to provide the user with instructions as to how to accessand/or use the bailout assembly 2228 to perform the manual bailout ofthe surgical instrument 2200, for example. In various instances, themodule 2252 may comprise one or more decision-making steps such as, forexample, a decision-making step 2254 with regard to the detection of oneor more errors requiring the manual bailout of the surgical instrument2200.

In various instances, the processor 2242 may be configured to detect abailout error in response to the occurrence of one or more interveningevents during the normal operation of the surgical instrument 2200, forexample. In certain instances, the processor 2242 may be configured todetect a bailout error when one or more bailout error signals arereceived by the processor 2242; the bailout error signals can becommunicated to the processor 2242 by other processors and/or sensors ofthe surgical instrument 2200, for example. In certain instances, abailout error can be detected by the processor 2242 when a temperatureof the surgical instrument 2200, as detected by a sensor (not shown),exceeds a threshold, for example. In certain instances, the surgicalinstrument 2200 may comprise a positioning system (not shown) forsensing and recording the position of the longitudinally-movable drivemember 2226 during a firing stroke of the firing drive system 2214. Inat least one example, the processor 2242 can be configured to detect abailout error when one or more of the recorded positions of thelongitudinally-movable drive member 2226 is not are accordance with apredetermined threshold, for example.

In any event, referring again to FIG. 52, when the processor 2242detects a bailout error in the decision-making step 2254, the processor2242 may respond by stopping and/or disabling the motor 2216, forexample. In addition, in certain instances, the processor 2242 also maystore a bailed out state in the memory 2240 after detecting the bailouterror, as illustrated in FIG. 52. In other words, the processor 2242 maystore in the memory 2240 a status indicating that a bailout error hasbeen detected. As described above, the memory 2240 can be a non-volatilememory which may preserve the stored status that a bailout error hasbeen detected when the surgical instrument 2200 is reset by the user,for example.

In various instances, the motor 2216 can be stopped and/or disabled bydisconnecting the battery 2218 from the motor 2216, for example. Invarious instances, the processor 2242 may employ the driver 2244 to stopand/or disable the motor 2216. In certain instances, when the motoroverride circuit is utilized, the processor 2242 may employ the motoroverride circuit to stop and/or disable the motor 2216. In certaininstances, stopping and/or disabling the motor 2216 may prevent a userof the surgical instrument 2200 from using the motor 2216 at least untilthe manual bailout is performed, for example. The reader will appreciatethat stopping and/or disabling the motor 2216 in response to thedetection of a bailout error can be advantageous in protecting tissuecaptured by the surgical instrument 2200.

Further to the above, referring still to FIG. 52, the module 2252 mayinclude a decision-making step 2256 for detecting whether the bailoutdoor 2232 is removed. As described above, the processor 2242 can beoperationally coupled to the bailout door feedback element 2246 whichcan be configured to alert the processor 2242 as to whether the bailoutdoor 2232 is removed. In certain instances, the processor 2242 can beprogrammed to detect that the bailout door 2232 is removed when thebailout door feedback element 2246 reports that the locking mechanism2234 is unlocked, for example. In certain instances, the processor 2242can be programmed to detect that the bailout door 2232 is removed whenthe bailout door feedback element 2246 reports that the bailout door2232 is opened, for example. In certain instances, the processor 2242can be programmed to detect that the bailout door 2232 is removed whenthe bailout door feedback element 2246 reports that the lockingmechanism 2234 is unlocked and that the bailout door 2232 is opened, forexample.

In various instances, referring still to FIG. 52, when the processor2242 does not detect a bailout error in the decision-making step 2254and does not detect that the bailout door 2232 is removed in thedecision-making step 2256, the processor 2242 may not interrupt thenormal operation of the surgical instrument 2200 and may proceed withvarious clinical algorithms. In certain instances, when the processor2242 does not detect a bailout error in the decision-making step 2254but detects that the bailout door 2232 is removed in the decision-makingstep 2256, the processor 2242 may respond by stopping and/or disablingthe motor 2216, as described above. In addition, in certain instances,the processor 2242 also may provide the user with instructions toreinstall the bailout door 2232, as described in greater detail below.In certain instances, when the processor 2242 detects that the bailoutdoor 2232 is reinstalled, while no bailout error is detected, theprocessor 2242 can be configured to reconnect the power to the motor2216 and allow the user to continue with clinical algorithms, asillustrated in FIG. 52.

In certain instances, when the user does not reinstall the bailout door2232, the processor 2242 may not reconnect power to the motor 2216 andmay continue providing the user with the instructions to reinstall thebailout door 2232. In certain instances, when the user does notreinstall the bailout door 2232, the processor 2242 may provide the userwith a warning that the bailout door 2232 needs to be reinstalled inorder to continue with the normal operation of the surgical instrument2200. In certain instances, the surgical instrument 2200 can be equippedwith an override mechanism (not shown) to permit the user to reconnectpower to the motor 2216 even when the bailout door 2216 is notinstalled.

In various instances, the processor 2242 can be configured to providethe user with a sensory feedback when the processor 2242 detects thatthe bailout door 2232 is removed. In various instances, the processor2242 can be configured to provide the user with a sensory feedback whenthe processor 2242 detects that the bailout door 2232 is reinstalled.Various devices can be employed by the processor 2242 to provide thesensory feedback to the user. Such devices may comprise, for example,visual feedback devices such as display screens and/or LED indicators,for example. In certain instances, such devices may comprise audiofeedback devices such as speakers and/or buzzers, for example. Incertain instances, such devices may comprise tactile feedback devicessuch as haptic actuators, for example. In certain instances, suchdevices may comprise combinations of visual feedback devices, audiofeedback devices, and/or tactile feedback devices. In certain instances,the processor 2242 may employ the display 2250 to instruct the user toreinstall the bailout door 2232. For example, the processor 2242 maypresent an alert symbol next to an image of the bailout door 2232 to theuser through the display 2250, for example. In certain instances, theprocessor 2242 may present an animated image of the bailout door 2232being installed, for example. Other images, symbols, and/or words can bedisplayed through the display 2250 to alert the user of the surgicalinstrument 2200 to reinstall the bailout door 2232.

Referring again to FIG. 52, when a bailout error is detected, theprocessor 2242 may signal the user of the surgical instrument 2200 toperform the manual bailout using the bailout handle 2230. In variousinstances, the processor 2242 can signal the user to perform the manualbailout by providing the user with a visual, audio, and/or tactilefeedback, for example. In certain instances, as illustrated in FIG. 52,the processor 2242 can signal the user of the surgical instrument 2200to perform the manual bailout by flashing a backlight of the display2250. In any event, the processor 2242 may then provide the user withinstructions to perform the manual bailout. In various instances, asillustrated in FIG. 52, the instructions may depend on whether thebailout door 2232 is installed; a decision making step 2258 maydetermine the type of instructions provided to the user. In certaininstances, when the processor 2242 detects that the bailout door 2232 isinstalled, the processor 2242 may provide the user with instructions toremove the bailout door 2232 and instructions to operate the bailouthandle 2230, for example. However, when the processor 2242 detects thatthe bailout door 2232 is removed, the processor 2242 may provide theuser with the instructions to operate the bailout handle 2230 but notthe instructions to remove the bailout door 2232, for example.

Referring again to FIG. 52, in various instances, the instructionsprovided by the processor 2242 to the user to remove the bailout door2232 and/or to operate the bailout handle 2230 may comprise one or moresteps; the steps may be presented to the user in a chronological order.In certain instances, the steps may comprise actions to be performed bythe user. In such instances, the user may proceed through the steps ofthe manual bailout by performing the actions presented in each of thesteps. In certain instances, the actions required in one or more of thesteps can be presented to the user in the form of animated imagesdisplayed on the display 2250, for example. In certain instances, one ormore of the steps can be presented to the user as messages which mayinclude words, symbols, and/or images that guide the user through themanual bailout. In certain instances, one or more of the steps ofperforming the manual bailout can be combined in one or more messages,for example. In certain instances, each message may comprise a separatestep, for example.

In certain instances, the steps and/or the messages providing theinstructions for the manual bailout can be presented to the user inpredetermined time intervals to allow the user sufficient time to complywith the presented steps and/or messages, for example. In certaininstances, the processor 2242 can be programmed to continue presenting astep and/or a message until feedback is received by the processor 2242that the step has been performed. In certain instances, the feedback canbe provided to the processor 2242 by the bailout door feedback element2246, for example. Other mechanisms and/or sensors can be employed bythe processor 2242 to obtain feedback that a step has been completed. Inat least one example, the user can be instructed to alert that processor2242 when a step is completed by pressing an alert button, for example.In certain instances, the display 2250 may comprise a capacitive screenwhich may provide the user with an interface to alert the processor 2242when a step is completed. For example, the user may press the capacitivescreen to move to the next step of the manual bailout instructions aftera current step is completed.

In certain instances, as illustrated in FIG. 52, after detecting thatthe bailout door 2232 is installed, the processor 2242 can be configuredto employ the display 2250 to present an animated image 2260 depicting ahand moving toward the bailout door 2232. The processor 2242 maycontinue to display the animated image 2260 for a time intervalsufficient for the user to engage the bailout door 2232, for example. Incertain instances, the processor 2242 may then replace the animatedimage 2260 with an animated image 2262 depicting a finger engaging thebailout door locking mechanism 2234, for example. The processor 2242 maycontinue to display the animated image 2262 for a time intervalsufficient for the user to unlock the locking mechanism 2234, forexample. In certain instances, the processor 2242 may continue todisplay the animated image 2262 until the bailout door feedback element2246 reports that the locking mechanism 2234 is unlocked, for example.In certain instances, the processor 2242 may continue to display theanimated image 2262 until the user alerts the processor 2242 that thestep of unlocking the locking mechanism 2234 is completed.

In any event, the processor 2242 may then replace the animated image2262 with an animated image 2264 depicting a finger removing the bailoutdoor 2232, for example. The processor 2242 may continue to display theanimated image 2264 for a time interval sufficient for the user toremove the bailout door 2232, for example. In certain instances, theprocessor 2242 may continue to display the animated image 2264 until thebailout door feedback element 2246 reports that the bailout door 2232 isremoved, for example. In certain instances, the processor 2242 maycontinue to display the animated image 2264 until the user alerts theprocessor 2242 that the step of removing the bailout door 2232 has beenremoved, for example. In certain instances, the processor 2242 can beconfigured to continue to repeat displaying the animated images 2260,2262, and 2246 in their respective order when the processor 2242continues to detect that the bailout door is installed at the decisionmaking step 2258, for example.

Further to the above, after detecting that the bailout door 2232 isremoved, the processor 2242 may proceed to guide the user through thesteps of operating the bailout handle 2230. In certain instances, theprocessor 2242 may replace the animated image 2264 with an animatedimage 2266 depicting a finger lifting the bailout handle 2230, forexample, into ratcheting engagement with the teeth 2224 in the drivemember 2226, as described above. The processor 2242 may continue todisplay the animated image 2266 for a time interval sufficient for theuser to lift the bailout handle 2230, for example. In certain instances,the processor 2242 may continue to display the animated image 2266 untilthe processor receives feedback that the bailout handle 2230 has beenlifted. For example, the processor 2242 may continue to display theanimated image 2266 until the user alerts the processor 2242 that thestep of lifting the bailout handle 2230 has been removed.

In certain instances, as described above, the user can manually retractthe drive member 2226 by using the bailout handle 2230 to ratchet thedrive member 2226 in the proximal direction “P,” for example, to releasetissue trapped by the end effector 2208, for example. In such instances,the processor 2242 may replace the animated image 2266 with an animatedimage 2268 depicting a finger repeatedly pulling then pushing thebailout handle 2230, for example, to simulate the ratcheting of thebailout handle 2230. The processor 2242 may continue to display theanimated image 2268 for a time interval sufficient for the user toratchet the drive member 2226 to default position, for example. Incertain instances, the processor 2242 may continue to display theanimated image 2268 until the processor 2242 receives feedback that thedrive member 2226 has been retracted.

FIG. 53 depicts a module 2270 which is similar in many respects to themodule 2258. For example, the module 2252 also can be stored in thememory 2240 and/or executed by the processor 2242, for example, toalert, guide, and/or provide feedback to a user of the surgicalinstrument 2200 with regard to performing a manual bailout of thesurgical instrument 2200. In certain instances, the surgical instrument2200 may not comprise a bailout door. In such circumstances, the module2270 can be employed by the processor 2242 to provide the user withinstructions as to how to operate the bailout handle 2230, for example.

Referring again to the module 2270 depicted in FIG. 53, when theprocessor 2242 does not detect a bailout error in the decision-makingstep 2254 of the module 2270, the processor 2242 may not interrupt thenormal operation of the surgical instrument 2200 and may proceed withvarious clinical algorithms. However, when the processor 2242 detects abailout error in the decision-making step 2254 of the module 2270, theprocessor 2242 may respond by stopping and/or disabling the motor 2216,for example. In addition, in certain instances, the processor 2242 alsomay store a bailed out state in the memory 2240 after detecting thebailout error, as illustrated in FIG. 53. In the absence of a bailoutdoor, the processor 2242 may signal the user of the surgical instrument2200 to perform the manual bailout, for example, by flashing thebacklight of the display 2250; the processor 2242 may then proceeddirectly to providing the user with the instructions to operate thebailout handle 2230, as described above.

The reader will appreciate that the steps depicted in FIGS. 52 and/or 53are illustrative examples of the instructions that can be provided tothe user of the surgical instrument 2200 to perform a manual bailout.The modules 2252 and/or 2270 can be configured to provide more or lesssteps than those illustrated in FIGS. 52 and 53. The reader will alsoappreciate that the modules 2252 and/or 2270 are exemplary modules;various other modules can be executed by the processor 2242 to providethe user of the surgical instrument 2200 with instructions to performthe manual bailout.

In various instances, as described above, the processor 2242 can beconfigured to present to the user of the surgical instrument 2200 thesteps and/or messages for performing a manual bailout in predeterminedtime intervals. Such time intervals may be the same or may varydepending on the complexity of the task to be performed by the user, forexample. In certain instances, such time intervals can be any timeinterval in the range of about 1 second, for example, to about 10minutes, for example. In certain instances, such time intervals can beany time interval in the range of about 1 second, for example, to about1 minute, for example. Other time intervals are contemplated by thepresent disclosure.

In some instances, a power assembly, such as, for example the powerassembly 2006 illustrated in FIGS. 31-33B, is configured to monitor thenumber of uses of the power assembly 2006 and/or a surgical instrument2000 coupled to the power assembly 2006. The power assembly 2006maintains a usage cycle count corresponding to the number of uses. Thepower assembly 2006 and/or the surgical instrument 2000 performs one ormore actions based on the usage cycle count. For example, in someinstances, when the usage cycle count exceeds a predetermined usagelimit, the power assembly 2006 and/or a surgical instrument 2000 maydisable the power assembly 2006, disable the surgical instrument 2000,indicate that a reconditioning or service cycle is required, provide ausage cycle count to an operator and/or a remote system, and/or performany other suitable action. The usage cycle count is determined by anysuitable system, such as, for example, a mechanical limiter, a usagecycle circuit, and/or any other suitable system coupled to the battery2006 and/or the surgical instrument 2000.

FIG. 54 illustrates one example of a power assembly 2400 comprising ausage cycle circuit 2402 configured to monitor a usage cycle count ofthe power assembly 2400. The power assembly 2400 may be coupled to asurgical instrument 2410. The usage cycle circuit 2402 comprises aprocessor 2404 and a use indicator 2406. The use indicator 2406 isconfigured to provide a signal to the processor 2404 to indicate a useof the battery back 2400 and/or a surgical instrument 2410 coupled tothe power assembly 2400. A “use” may comprise any suitable action,condition, and/or parameter such as, for example, changing a modularcomponent of a surgical instrument 2410, deploying or firing adisposable component coupled to the surgical instrument 2410, deliveringelectrosurgical energy from the surgical instrument 2410, reconditioningthe surgical instrument 2410 and/or the power assembly 2400, exchangingthe power assembly 2400, recharging the power assembly 2400, and/orexceeding a safety limitation of the surgical instrument 2410 and/or thebattery back 2400.

In some instances, a usage cycle, or use, is defined by one or morepower assembly 2400 parameters. For example, in one instance, a usagecycle comprises using more than 5% of the total energy available fromthe power assembly 2400 when the power assembly 2400 is at a full chargelevel. In another instance, a usage cycle comprises a continuous energydrain from the power assembly 2400 exceeding a predetermined time limit.For example, a usage cycle may correspond to five minutes of continuousand/or total energy draw from the power assembly 2400. In someinstances, the power assembly 2400 comprises a usage cycle circuit 2402having a continuous power draw to maintain one or more components of theusage cycle circuit 2402, such as, for example, the use indicator 2406and/or a counter 2408, in an active state.

The processor 2404 maintains a usage cycle count. The usage cycle countindicates the number of uses detected by the use indicator 2406 for thepower assembly 2400 and/or the surgical instrument 2410. The processor2404 may increment and/or decrement the usage cycle count based on inputfrom the use indicator 2406. The usage cycle count is used to controlone or more operations of the power assembly 2400 and/or the surgicalinstrument 2410. For example, in some instances, a power assembly 2400is disabled when the usage cycle count exceeds a predetermined usagelimit. Although the instances discussed herein are discussed withrespect to incrementing the usage cycle count above a predeterminedusage limit, those skilled in the art will recognize that the usagecycle count may start at a predetermined amount and may be decrementedby the processor 2404. In this instance, the processor 2404 initiatesand/or prevents one or more operations of the power assembly 2400 whenthe usage cycle count falls below a predetermined usage limit.

The usage cycle count is maintained by a counter 2408. The counter 2408comprises any suitable circuit, such as, for example, a memory module,an analog counter, and/or any circuit configured to maintain a usagecycle count. In some instances, the counter 2408 is formed integrallywith the processor 2404. In other instances, the counter 2408 comprisesa separate component, such as, for example, a solid state memory module.In some instances, the usage cycle count is provided to a remote system,such as, for example, a central database. The usage cycle count istransmitted by a communications module 2412 to the remote system. Thecommunications module 2412 is configured to use any suitablecommunications medium, such as, for example, wired and/or wirelesscommunication. In some instances, the communications module 2412 isconfigured to receive one or more instructions from the remote system,such as, for example, a control signal when the usage cycle countexceeds the predetermined usage limit.

In some instances, the use indicator 2406 is configured to monitor thenumber of modular components used with a surgical instrument 2410coupled to the power assembly 2400. A modular component may comprise,for example, a modular shaft, a modular end effector, and/or any othermodular component. In some instances, the use indicator 2406 monitorsthe use of one or more disposable components, such as, for example,insertion and/or deployment of a staple cartridge within an end effectorcoupled to the surgical instrument 2410. The use indicator 2406comprises one or more sensors for detecting the exchange of one or moremodular and/or disposable components of the surgical instrument 2410.

In some instances, the use indicator 2406 is configured to monitorsingle patient surgical procedures performed while the power assembly2400 is installed. For example, the use indicator 2406 may be configuredto monitor firings of the surgical instrument 2410 while the powerassembly 2400 is coupled to the surgical instrument 2410. A firing maycorrespond to deployment of a staple cartridge, application ofelectrosurgical energy, and/or any other suitable surgical event. Theuse indicator 2406 may comprise one or more circuits for measuring thenumber of firings while the power assembly 2400 is installed. The useindicator 2406 provides a signal to the processor 2404 when a singlepatient procedure is performed and the processor 2404 increments theusage cycle count.

In some instances, the use indicator 2406 comprises a circuit configuredto monitor one or more parameters of the power source 2414, such as, forexample, a current draw from the power source 2414. The one or moreparameters of the power source 2414 correspond to one or more operationsperformable by the surgical instrument 2410, such as, for example, acutting and sealing operation. The use indicator 2406 provides the oneor more parameters to the processor 2404, which increments the usagecycle count when the one or more parameters indicate that a procedurehas been performed.

In some instances, the use indicator 2406 comprises a timing circuitconfigured to increment a usage cycle count after a predetermined timeperiod. The predetermined time period corresponds to a single patientprocedure time, which is the time required for an operator to perform aprocedure, such as, for example, a cutting and sealing procedure. Whenthe power assembly 2400 is coupled to the surgical instrument 2410, theprocessor 2404 polls the use indicator 2406 to determine when the singlepatient procedure time has expired. When the predetermined time periodhas elapsed, the processor 2404 increments the usage cycle count. Afterincrementing the usage cycle count, the processor 2404 resets the timingcircuit of the use indicator 2406.

In some instances, the use indicator 2406 comprises a time constant thatapproximates the single patient procedure time. FIG. 55 illustrates oneinstance of power assembly 2500 comprising a usage cycle circuit 2502having a resistor-capacitor (RC) timing circuit 2506. The RC timingcircuit 2506 comprises a time constant defined by a resistor-capacitorpair. The time constant is defined by the values of the resistor 2516and the capacitor 2518 When the power assembly 2500 is installed in asurgical instrument, a processor 2504 polls the RC timing circuit 2506.When one or more parameters of the RC timing circuit 2506 are below apredetermined threshold, the processor 2504 increments the usage cyclecount. For example, the processor 2504 may poll the voltage of thecapacitor 2518 of the resistor-capacitor pair 2506. When the voltage ofthe capacitor 2518 is below a predetermined threshold, the processor2504 increment the usage cycle count. The processor 2504 may be coupledto the RC timing circuit 2506 by, for example, an A/D 2520. Afterincrementing the usage cycle count, the processor 2504 turns on atransistor 2522 to connect the RC timing circuit 2506 to a power source2514 to charge the capacitor 2518 of the RC timing circuit 2506. Oncethe capacitor 2518 is fully charged, the transistor 2522 is opened andthe RC timing circuit 2506 is allowed to discharge, as governed by thetime constant, to indicate a subsequent single patient procedure.

FIG. 56 illustrates one instance of a power assembly 2550 comprising ausage cycle circuit 2552 having a rechargeable battery 2564 and a clock2560. When the power assembly 2550 is installed in a surgicalinstrument, the rechargeable battery 2564 is charged by the power source2558. The rechargeable battery 2564 comprises enough power to run theclock 2560 for at least the single patient procedure time. The clock2560 may comprise a real time clock, a processor configured to implementa time function, or any other suitable timing circuit. The processor2554 receives a signal from the clock 2560 and increments the usagecycle count when the clock 2560 indicates that the single patientprocedure time has been exceeded. The processor 2554 resets the clock2560 after incrementing the usage cycle count. For example, in oneinstance, the processor 2554 closes a transistor 2562 to recharge therechargeable battery 2564. Once the rechargeable battery 2564 is fullycharged, the processor 2554 opens the transistor 2562, and allows theclock 2560 to run while the rechargeable battery 2564 discharges.

Referring back to FIG. 54, in some instances, the use indicator 2406comprises a sensor configured to monitor one or more environmentalconditions experienced by the power assembly 2400. For example, the useindicator 2406 may comprise an accelerometer. The accelerometer isconfigured to monitor acceleration of the power assembly 2400. The powerassembly 2400 comprises a maximum acceleration tolerance. Accelerationabove a predetermined threshold indicates, for example, that the powerassembly 2400 has been dropped. When the use indicator 2406 detectsacceleration above the maximum acceleration tolerance, the processor2404 increments a usage cycle count. In some instances, the useindicator 2406 comprises a moisture sensor. The moisture sensor isconfigured to indicate when the power assembly 2400 has been exposed tomoisture. The moisture sensor may comprise, for example, an immersionsensor configured to indicate when the power assembly 2400 has beenfully immersed in a cleaning fluid, a moisture sensor configured toindicate when moisture is in contact with the power assembly 2400 duringuse, and/or any other suitable moisture sensor.

In some instances, the use indicator 2406 comprises a chemical exposuresensor. The chemical exposure sensor is configured to indicate when thepower assembly 2400 has come into contact with harmful and/or dangerouschemicals. For example, during a sterilization procedure, aninappropriate chemical may be used that leads to degradation of thepower assembly 2400. The processor 2404 increments the usage cycle countwhen the use indicator 2406 detects an inappropriate chemical.

In some instances, the usage cycle circuit 2402 is configured to monitorthe number of reconditioning cycles experienced by the power assembly2400. A reconditioning cycle may comprise, for example, a cleaningcycle, a sterilization cycle, a charging cycle, routine and/orpreventative maintenance, and/or any other suitable reconditioningcycle. The use indicator 2406 is configured to detect a reconditioningcycle. For example, the use indicator 2406 may comprise a moisturesensor to detect a cleaning and/or sterilization cycle. In someinstances, the usage cycle circuit 2402 monitors the number ofreconditioning cycles experienced by the power assembly 2400 anddisables the power assembly 2400 after the number of reconditioningcycles exceeds a predetermined threshold.

The usage cycle circuit 2402 may be configured to monitor the number ofpower assembly 2400 exchanges. The usage cycle circuit 2402 incrementsthe usage cycle count each time the power assembly 2400 is exchanged.When the maximum number of exchanges is exceeded, the usage cyclecircuit 2402 locks out the power assembly 2400 and/or the surgicalinstrument 2410. In some instances, when the power assembly 2400 iscoupled the surgical instrument 2410, the usage cycle circuit 2402identifies the serial number of the power assembly 2400 and locks thepower assembly 2400 such that the power assembly 2400 is usable onlywith the surgical instrument 2410. In some instances, the usage cyclecircuit 2402 increments the usage cycle each time the power assembly2400 is removed from and/or coupled to the surgical instrument 2410.

In some instances, the usage cycle count corresponds to sterilization ofthe power assembly 2400. The use indicator 2406 comprises a sensorconfigured to detect one or more parameters of a sterilization cycle,such as, for example, a temperature parameter, a chemical parameter, amoisture parameter, and/or any other suitable parameter. The processor2404 increments the usage cycle count when a sterilization parameter isdetected. The usage cycle circuit 2402 disables the power assembly 2400after a predetermined number of sterilizations. In some instances, theusage cycle circuit 2402 is reset during a sterilization cycle, avoltage sensor to detect a recharge cycle, and/or any suitable sensor.The processor 2404 increments the usage cycle count when areconditioning cycle is detected. The usage cycle circuit 2402 isdisabled when a sterilization cycle is detected. The usage cycle circuit2402 is reactivated and/or reset when the power assembly 2400 is coupledto the surgical instrument 2410. In some instances, the use indicatorcomprises a zero power indicator. The zero power indicator changes stateduring a sterilization cycle and is checked by the processor 2404 whenthe power assembly 2400 is coupled to a surgical instrument 2410. Whenthe zero power indicator indicates that a sterilization cycle hasoccurred, the processor 2404 increments the usage cycle count.

A counter 2408 maintains the usage cycle count. In some instances, thecounter 2408 comprises a non-volatile memory module. The processor 2404increments the usage cycle count stored in the non-volatile memorymodule each time a usage cycle is detected. The memory module may beaccessed by the processor 2404 and/or a control circuit, such as, forexample, the control circuit 1100. When the usage cycle count exceeds apredetermined threshold, the processor 2404 disables the power assembly2400. In some instances, the usage cycle count is maintained by aplurality of circuit components. For example, in one instance, thecounter 2408 comprises a resistor (or fuse) pack. After each use of thepower assembly 2400, a resistor (or fuse) is burned to an open position,changing the resistance of the resistor pack. The power assembly 2400and/or the surgical instrument 2410 reads the remaining resistance. Whenthe last resistor of the resistor pack is burned out, the resistor packhas a predetermined resistance, such as, for example, an infiniteresistance corresponding to an open circuit, which indicates that thepower assembly 2400 has reached its usage limit. In some instances, theresistance of the resistor pack is used to derive the number of usesremaining.

In some instances, the usage cycle circuit 2402 prevents further use ofthe power assembly 2400 and/or the surgical instrument 2410 when theusage cycle count exceeds a predetermined usage limit. In one instance,the usage cycle count associated with the power assembly 2400 isprovided to an operator, for example, utilizing a screen formedintegrally with the surgical instrument 2410. The surgical instrument2410 provides an indication to the operator that the usage cycle counthas exceeded a predetermined limit for the power assembly 2400, andprevents further operation of the surgical instrument 2410.

In some instances, the usage cycle circuit 2402 is configured tophysically prevent operation when the predetermined usage limit isreached. For example, the power assembly 2400 may comprise a shieldconfigured to deploy over contacts of the power assembly 2400 when theusage cycle count exceeds the predetermined usage limit. The shieldprevents recharge and use of the power assembly 2400 by covering theelectrical connections of the power assembly 2400.

In some instances, the usage cycle circuit 2402 is located at leastpartially within the surgical instrument 2410 and is configured tomaintain a usage cycle count for the surgical instrument 2410. FIG. 54illustrates one or more components of the usage cycle circuit 2402within the surgical instrument 2410 in phantom, illustrating thealternative positioning of the usage cycle circuit 2402. When apredetermined usage limit of the surgical instrument 2410 is exceeded,the usage cycle circuit 2402 disables and/or prevents operation of thesurgical instrument 2410. The usage cycle count is incremented by theusage cycle circuit 2402 when the use indicator 2406 detects a specificevent and/or requirement, such as, for example, firing of the surgicalinstrument 2410, a predetermined time period corresponding to a singlepatient procedure time, based on one or more motor parameters of thesurgical instrument 2410, in response to a system diagnostic indicatingthat one or more predetermined thresholds are met, and/or any othersuitable requirement. As discussed above, in some instances, the useindicator 2406 comprises a timing circuit corresponding to a singlepatient procedure time. In other instances, the use indicator 2406comprises one or more sensors configured to detect a specific eventand/or condition of the surgical instrument 2410.

In some instances, the usage cycle circuit 2402 is configured to preventoperation of the surgical instrument 2410 after the predetermined usagelimit is reached. In some instances, the surgical instrument 2410comprises a visible indicator to indicate when the predetermined usagelimit has been reached and/or exceeded. For example, a flag, such as ared flag, may pop-up from the surgical instrument 2410, such as from thehandle, to provide a visual indication to the operator that the surgicalinstrument 2410 has exceeded the predetermined usage limit. As anotherexample, the usage cycle circuit 2402 may be coupled to a display formedintegrally with the surgical instrument 2410. The usage cycle circuit2402 displays a message indicating that the predetermined usage limithas been exceeded. The surgical instrument 2410 may provide an audibleindication to the operator that the predetermined usage limit has beenexceeded. For example, in one instance, the surgical instrument 2410emits an audible tone when the predetermined usage limit is exceeded andthe power assembly 2400 is removed from the surgical instrument 2410.The audible tone indicates the last use of the surgical instrument 2410and indicates that the surgical instrument 2410 should be disposed orreconditioned.

In some instances, the usage cycle circuit 2402 is configured totransmit the usage cycle count of the surgical instrument 2410 to aremote location, such as, for example, a central database. The usagecycle circuit 2402 comprises a communications module 2412 configured totransmit the usage cycle count to the remote location. Thecommunications module 2412 may utilize any suitable communicationssystem, such as, for example, wired or wireless communications system.The remote location may comprise a central database configured tomaintain usage information. In some instances, when the power assembly2400 is coupled to the surgical instrument 2410, the power assembly 2400records a serial number of the surgical instrument 2410. The serialnumber is transmitted to the central database, for example, when thepower assembly 2400 is coupled to a charger. In some instances, thecentral database maintains a count corresponding to each use of thesurgical instrument 2410. For example, a bar code associated with thesurgical instrument 2410 may be scanned each time the surgicalinstrument 2410 is used. When the use count exceeds a predeterminedusage limit, the central database provides a signal to the surgicalinstrument 2410 indicating that the surgical instrument 2410 should bediscarded.

The surgical instrument 2410 may be configured to lock and/or preventoperation of the surgical instrument 2410 when the usage cycle countexceeds a predetermined usage limit. In some instances, the surgicalinstrument 2410 comprises a disposable instrument and is discarded afterthe usage cycle count exceeds the predetermined usage limit. In otherinstances, the surgical instrument 2410 comprises a reusable surgicalinstrument which may be reconditioned after the usage cycle countexceeds the predetermined usage limit. The surgical instrument 2410initiates a reversible lockout after the predetermined usage limit ismet. A technician reconditions the surgical instrument 2410 and releasesthe lockout, for example, utilizing a specialized technician keyconfigured to reset the usage cycle circuit 2402.

In some instances, the power assembly 2400 is charged and sterilizedsimultaneously prior to use. FIG. 57 illustrates one instance of acombined sterilization and charging system 2600 configured to charge andsterilize a battery 2602 simultaneously. The combined sterilization andcharging system 2600 comprises a sterilization chamber 2604. A battery2602 is placed within the sterilization chamber 2604. In some instances,the battery 2602 is coupled to a surgical instrument. A charging cable2606 is mounted through a wall 2608 of the sterilization chamber 2604.The wall 2608 is sealed around the charging cable 2606 to maintain asterile environment within the sterilization chamber 2604 duringsterilization. The charging cable 2606 comprises a first end configuredto couple to the power assembly 2602 within the sterilization chamber2604 and a second end coupled to a battery charger 2610 located outsideof the sterilization chamber 2604. Because the charging cable 2606passes through the wall 2608 of the sterilization chamber 2604 whilemaintaining a sterile environment within the sterilization chamber 2604,the power assembly 2602 may be charged and sterilized simultaneously.

The charging profile applied by the battery charger 2610 is configuredto match the sterilization cycle of the sterilization chamber 2604. Forexample, in one instance, a sterilization procedure time is about 28 to38 minutes. The battery charger 2610 is configured to provide a chargingprofile that charges the battery during the sterilization proceduretime. In some instances, the charging profile may extend over acooling-off period following the sterilization procedure. The chargingprofile may be adjusted by the battery charger 2610 based on feedbackfrom the power assembly 2602 and/or the sterilization chamber 2604. Forexample, in one instance, a sensor 2612 is located within thesterilization chamber 2604. The sensor 2612 is configured to monitor oneor more characteristics of the sterilization chamber 2604, such as, forexample, chemicals present in the sterilization chamber 2604,temperature of the sterilization chamber 2604, and/or any other suitablecharacteristic of the sterilization chamber 2604. The sensor 2612 iscoupled to the battery charger 2610 by a cable 2614 extending throughthe wall 2608 of the sterilization chamber 2604. The cable 2614 issealed such that the sterilization chamber 2604 may maintain a sterileenvironment. The battery charger 2610 adjusts the charging profile basedon feedback from the sensor 2614. For example, in one instance, thebattery charger 2610 receives temperature data from the sensor 2612 andadjusts the charging profile when the temperature of the sterilizationchamber 2604 and/or the power assembly 2602 exceeds a predeterminedtemperature. As another example, the battery charger 2610 receiveschemical composition information from the sensor 2612 and preventscharging of the power assembly 2602 when a chemical, such as, forexample, H₂O₂, approaches explosive limits.

FIG. 58 illustrates one instance of a combination sterilization andcharging system 2650 configured for a power assembly 2652 having abattery charger 2660 formed integrally therewith. An alternating current(AC) source 2666 is located outside of the sterilization chamber 2654and is coupled the battery charger 2660 by an AC cable 2656 mountedthrough a wall 2658 of the sterilization chamber 2654. The wall 2658 issealed around the AC cable 2656. The battery charger 2660 operatessimilar to the battery charger 2610 illustrated in FIG. 57. In someinstances, the battery charger 2660 receives feedback from a sensor 2662located within the sterilization chamber 2654 and coupled to the batterycharger 2660 by a cable 2664.

In various instances, a surgical system can include a magnet and asensor. In combination, the magnet and the sensor can cooperate todetect various conditions of a fastener cartridge, such as the presenceof a fastener cartridge in an end effector of the surgical instrument,the type of fastener cartridge loaded in the end effector, and/or thefiring state of a loaded fastener cartridge, for example. Referring nowto FIG. 62, a jaw 902 of an end effector 900 can comprise a magnet 910,for example, and a fastener cartridge 920 can comprise a sensor 930, forexample. In various instances, the magnet 910 can be positioned at thedistal end 906 of an elongate channel 904 sized and configured toreceive the fastener cartridge 920. Furthermore, the sensor 930 can beat least partially embedded or retained in the distal end 926 of thenose 924 of the fastener cartridge 920, for example. In variousinstances, the sensor 924 can be in signal communication with themicrocontroller of the surgical instrument.

In various circumstances, the sensor 930 can detect the presence of themagnet 910 when the fastener cartridge 920 is positioned in the elongatechannel 904 of the jaw 902. The sensor 930 can detect when the fastenercartridge 920 is improperly positioned in the elongate channel 904and/or not loaded into the elongate channel 904, for example, and cancommunicate the cartridge loading state to the microcontroller of thesurgical system, for example. In certain instances, the magnet 910 canbe positioned in the fastener cartridge 920, for example, and the sensor930 can be positioned in the end effector 900, for example. In variousinstances, the sensor 930 can detect the type of fastener cartridge 920loaded in the end effector 900. For example, different types of fastenercartridges can have different magnetic arrangements, such as differentplacement(s) relative to the cartridge body or other cartridgecomponents, different polarities, and/or different magnetic strengths,for example. In such instances, the sensor 930 can detect the type ofcartridge, e.g., the cartridge length, the number of fasteners and/orthe fastener height(s), positioned in the jaw 902 based on the detectedmagnetic signal. Additionally or alternatively, the sensor 930 candetect if the fastener cartridge 920 is properly seated in the endeffector 900. For example, the end effector 900 and the fastenercartridge 920 can comprise a plurality of magnets and/or a plurality ofsensors and, in certain instances, the sensor(s) can detect whether thefastener cartridge 920 is properly positioned and/or aligned based onthe position of multiple magnets relative to the sensor(s), for example.

Referring now to FIG. 63, in certain instances, an end effector 3000 caninclude a plurality of magnets and a plurality of sensors. For example,a jaw 3002 can include a plurality of magnets 3010, 3012 positioned atthe distal end 3006 thereof. Moreover, the fastener cartridge 3020 caninclude a plurality of sensors 3030, 3032 positioned at the distal end3026 of the nose 3024, for example. In certain instances, the sensors3030, 3032 can detect the presence of the fastener cartridge 3020 in theelongate channel 3004 of the jaw 3002. In various instances, the sensors3030, 3032 can comprise Hall Effect sensors, for example. Varioussensors are described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,210,411, filed Sep. 23, 2008,and entitled MOTOR-DRIVEN SURGICAL CUTTING INSTRUMENT. U.S. Pat. No.8,210,411, filed Sep. 23, 2008, and entitled MOTOR-DRIVEN SURGICALCUTTING INSTRUMENT, is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.The addition of an additional sensor or sensors can provide a greaterbandwidth signal, for example, which can provide further and/or improvedinformation to the microcontroller of the surgical instrument.Additionally or alternatively, additional sensors can determine if thefastener cartridge 3020 is properly seated in the elongate channel ofthe jaw 3002, for example.

In various instances, a magnet can be positioned on a moveable componentof a fastener cartridge. For example, a magnet can be positioned on acomponent of the fastener cartridge that moves during a firing stroke.In such instances, a sensor in the end effector can detect the firingstate of the fastener cartridge. For example, referring now to FIG. 64,a magnet 3130 can be positioned on the sled 3122 of a fastener cartridge3120. Moreover, a sensor 1110 can be positioned in the jaw 3102 of theend effector 3100. In various circumstances, the sled 3122 can translateduring a firing stroke. Moreover, in certain instances, the sled 3120can remain at the distal end of the fastener cartridge 3120 after thefiring stroke. Stated differently, after the cartridge has been fired,the sled 3120 can remain at the distal end of the fastener cartridge3120. Accordingly, the sensor 3110 can detect the position of the magnet3130 and the corresponding sled 3120 to determine the firing state ofthe fastener cartridge 3120. For example, when the sensor 3110 detectsthe proximal position of the magnet 3130, the fastener cartridge 3120can be unfired and ready to fire, for example, and when the sensor 3110detects the distal position of the magnet 3130, the fastener cartridge3120 can be spent, for example. Referring now to FIG. 65, in variousinstances, a jaw 3202 of an end effector 3200 can include a plurality ofsensors 3210, 3212. For example, a proximal sensor 3212 can bepositioned in the proximal portion of the jaw 3202, and a distal sensor3210 can be positioned in the distal portion of the jaw 3202, forexample. In such instances, the sensors 3210, 3212 can detect theposition of the sled 3122 as the sled 3122 moves during a firing stroke,for example. In various instances, the sensors 3210, 3212 can compriseHall Effect sensors, for example.

Additionally or alternatively, an end effector can include a pluralityof electrical contacts, which can detect the presence and/or firingstate of a fastener cartridge. Referring now to FIG. 66, an end effector3300 can include a jaw 3302 defining a channel 3304 configured toreceive a fastener cartridge 3320. In various instances, the jaw 3302and the fastener cartridge 3320 can comprise electrical contacts. Forexample, the elongate channel 3304 can define a bottom surface 3306, andan electrical contact 3310 can be positioned on the bottom surface 3306.In various instances, a plurality of electrical contacts 3310 can bedefined in the elongate channel 3304. The electrical contacts 3310 canform part of a firing-state circuit 3340, which can be in signalcommunication with a microcontroller of the surgical system. Forexample, the electrical contacts 3310 can be electrically coupled toand/or in communication with a power supply, and can form electricallyactive ends of an open circuit, for example. In some instances, one ofthe electrical contacts 3310 can be powered such that a voltagepotential is created intermediate the electrical contacts 3310. Incertain instances, one of the contacts can be coupled to an outputchannel of the microprocessor, for example, which can apply a voltagepotential to the contact. Another contact can be coupled to an inputchannel of the microprocessor, for example. In certain instances, theelectrical contacts 3310 can be insulated from the frame 3306 of the jaw3302. Referring still to FIG. 66, the fastener cartridge 3320 can alsoinclude an electrical contact 3330, or a plurality of electricalcontacts, for example. In various instances, the electrical contact 3330can be positioned on a moveable element of the fastener cartridge 3320.For example, the electrical contact 3330 can be positioned on the sled3322 of the fastener cartridge 3320, and thus, the electrical contact3330 can move in the fastener cartridge 3320 during a firing stroke.

In various instances, the electrical contact 3330 can comprise ametallic bar or plate on the sled 3320, for example. The electricalcontact 3330 in the fastener cartridge 3320 can cooperate with theelectrical contact(s) 3310 in the end effector 3300, for example. Incertain circumstances, the electrical contact 3330 can contact theelectrical contact(s) 3310 when the sled 3322 is positioned in aparticular position, or a range of positions, in the fastener cartridge3320. For example, the electrical contact 3330 can contact theelectrical contacts 3310 when the sled 3322 is unfired, and thus,positioned in a proximal position in the fastener cartridge 3320. Insuch circumstances, the electrical contact 3330 can close the circuitbetween the electrical contacts 3310, for example. Moreover, thefiring-state circuit 3340 can communicate the closed circuit, i.e., theunfired cartridge indication, to the microcontroller of the surgicalsystem. In such instances, when the sled 3322 is fired distally during afiring stroke, the electrical contact 3330 can move out of electricallycontact with the electrical contacts 3310, for example. Accordingly, thefiring-state circuit 3340 can communicate the open circuit, i.e., thefired cartridge indication, to the microcontroller of the surgicalsystem. In certain circumstances, the microcontroller may only initiatea firing stroke when an unspent cartridge is indicated by thefiring-state circuit 3340, for example. In various instances, theelectrical contact 3330 can comprise an electromechanical fuse. In suchinstances, the fuse can break or short when the sled 3322 is firedthrough a firing stroke, for example.

Additionally or alternatively, referring now to FIG. 67, an end effector3400 can include a jaw 3402 and a cartridge-present circuit 3440. Invarious instances, the jaw 3402 can comprise an electrical contact 3410,or a plurality of electrical contacts 3410, in an elongate channel 3404thereof, for example. Furthermore, a fastener cartridge 3420 can includean electrical contact 3430, or a plurality of electrical contacts 3430,on an outer surface of the fastener cartridge 3420. In variousinstances, the electrical contacts 3430 can be positioned and/or mountedto a fixed or stationary component of the fastener cartridge 3420, forexample. In various circumstances, the electrical contacts 3430 of thefastener cartridge 3420 can contact the electrical contacts 3410 of theend effector 3400 when the fastener cartridge 3420 is loaded into theelongate channel 3404, for example. Prior to placement of the fastenercartridge 3420 in the elongate channel 3404, the cartridge-presentcircuit 3440 can be an open circuit, for example. When the fastenercartridge 3420 is properly seated in the jaw 3402, the electricalcontacts 3410 and 3430 can form the closed cartridge-present circuit3440. In instances where the jaw 3402 and/or the fastener cartridge 3420comprise a plurality of electrical contacts 3410, 3430, thecartridge-present circuit 3440 can comprise a plurality of circuits.Moreover, in certain instances, the cartridge-present circuit 3440 canidentify the type of cartridge loaded in the jaw 3402 based on thenumber and/or arrangement of electrical contacts 3430 on the fastenercartridge 3420, for example, and the corresponding open and/or closedcircuits of the cartridge-present circuit 3440, for example.

Moreover, the electrical contacts 3410 in the jaw 3402 can be in signalcommunication with the microcontroller of the surgical system. Theelectrical contacts 3410 can be wired to a power source, for example,and/or can communicate with the microcontroller via a wired and/orwireless connection, for example. In various instances, thecartridge-present circuit 3440 can communicate the cartridge presence orabsence to the microcontroller of the surgical system. In variousinstances, a firing stroke may be prevented when the cartridge-presentcircuit 3440 indicates the absence of a fastener cartridge in the endeffector jaw 3402, for example. Moreover, a firing stroke may bepermitted when the cartridge—present circuit 3440 indicates the presenceof a fastener cartridge 3420 in the end effector jaw 3402.

As described throughout the present disclosure, various sensors,programs, and circuits can detect and measure numerous characteristicsof the surgical instrument and/or components thereof, surgical use oroperation, and/or the tissue and/or operating site. For example, tissuethickness, the identification of the instrument components, usage andfeedback data from surgical functions, and error or fault indicationscan be detected by the surgical instrument. In certain instances, thefastener cartridge can include a nonvolatile memory unit, which can beembedded or removably coupled to the fastener cartridge, for example.Such a nonvolatile memory unit can be in signal communication with themicrocontroller via hardware, such as the electrical contacts describedherein, radio frequency, or various other suitable forms of datatransmission. In such instances, the microcontroller can communicatedata and feedback to the nonvolatile memory unit in the fastenercartridge, and thus, the fastener cartridge can store information. Invarious instances, the information can be securely stored and accessthereto can be restricted as suitable and appropriate for thecircumstances.

In certain instances, the nonvolatile memory unit can compriseinformation regarding the fastener cartridge characteristics and/or thecompatibility thereof with various other components of the modularsurgical system. For example, when the fastener cartridge is loaded intoan end effector, the nonvolatile memory unit can provide compatibilityinformation to the microcontroller of the surgical system. In suchinstances, the microcontroller can verify the validity or compatibilityof the modular assembly. For example, the microcontroller can confirmthat the handle component can fire the fastener cartridge and/or thatthe fastener cartridge appropriate fits the end effector, for example.In certain circumstances, the microcontroller can communicate thecompatibility or lack thereof to the operator of the surgical system,and/or may prevent a surgical function if the modular components areincompatible, for example.

As described herein, the surgical instrument can include a sensor, whichcan cooperate with a magnet to detect various characteristics of thesurgical instrument, operation, and surgical site. In certain instances,the sensor can comprise a Hall Effect sensor and, in other instances,the sensor can comprise a magnetoresistive sensor as depicted in FIGS.68(A)-68(C), for example. As described in greater detail herein, asurgical end effector can comprise a first jaw, which can be configuredto receive a fastener cartridge, and a second jaw. The first jaw and/orthe fastener cartridge can comprise a magnetic element, such as apermanent magnet, for example, and the second jaw can comprise amagnetoresistive sensor, for example. In other instances, the first jawand/or the fastener cartridge can comprise a magnetoresistive sensor,for example, and the second jaw can comprise a magnetic element. Themagnetoresistive sensor may have various characteristics listed in thetable in FIG. 68(C), for example, and/or similar specifications, forexample. In certain instances, the change in resistance caused bymovement of the magnetic element relative to the magnetoresistive sensorcan affect and/or vary the properties of the magnetic circuit depictedin FIG. 68(B), for example.

In various instances, the magnetoresistive sensor can detect theposition of the magnetic element, and thus, can detect the thickness oftissue clamped between the opposing first and second jaws, for example.The magnetoresistive sensor can be in signal communication with themicrocontroller, and the magnetoresistive sensor can wirelessly transmitdata to an antenna in signal communication with the microcontroller, forexample. In various instances, a passive circuit can comprise themagnetoresistive sensor. Moreover, the antenna can be positioned in theend effector, and can detect a wireless signal from the magnetoresistivesensor and/or microprocessor operably coupled thereto, for example. Insuch circumstances, an exposed electrical connection between the endeffector comprising the antenna, for example, and the fastener cartridgecomprising the magnetoresistive sensor, for example, can be avoided.Furthermore, in various instances, the antenna can be wired and/or inwireless communication with the microcontroller of the surgicalinstrument.

Tissue can contain fluid and, when the tissue is compressed, the fluidmay be pressed from the compressed tissue. For example, when tissue isclamped between opposing jaws of a surgical end effector, fluid may flowand/or be displaced from the clamped tissue. Fluid flow or displacementin clamped tissue can depend on various characteristics of the tissue,such as the thickness and/or type of tissue, as well as variouscharacteristics of the surgical operation, such as the desired tissuecompression and/or the elapsed clamping time, for example. In variousinstances, fluid displacement between the opposing jaws of an endeffector may contribute to malformation of staples formed between theopposing jaws. For example, the displacement of fluid during and/orfollowing staple formation can induce bending and/or other uncontrolledmovement of a staple away from its desired or intended formation.Accordingly, in various instances, it may be desirable to control thefiring stroke, e.g., to control the firing speed, in relationship to thedetected fluid flow, or lack thereof, intermediate opposing jaws of asurgical end effector.

In various instances, the fluid displacement in clamped tissue can bedetermined or approximated by various measurable and/or detectabletissue characteristics. For example, the degree of tissue compressioncan correspond to the degree of fluid displacement in the clampedtissue. In various instances, a higher degree of tissue compression cancorrespond to more fluid flow, for example, and a reduced degree oftissue compression can correspond to less fluid flow, for example. Invarious circumstances, a sensor positioned in the end effector jaws candetect the force exerted on the jaws by the compressed tissue.Additionally or alternatively, a sensor on or operably associated withthe cutting element can detect the resistance on the cutting element asthe cutting element is advanced through, and transects, the clampedtissue. In such circumstances, the detected cutting and/or firingresistance can correspond to the degree of tissue compression. Whentissue compression is high, for example, the cutting element resistancecan be greater, and when tissue compression is lower, for example, thecutting element resistance can be reduced. Correspondingly, the cuttingelement resistance can indicate the amount of fluid displacement.

In certain instances, the fluid displacement in clamped tissue can bedetermined or approximated by the force required to fire the cuttingelement, i.e., the force-to-fire. The force-to-fire can correspond tothe cutting element resistance, for example. Furthermore, theforce-to-fire can be measured or approximated by a microcontroller insignal communication with the electric motor that drives the cuttingelement. For example, where the cutting element resistance is higher,the electric motor can require more current to drive the cutting elementthrough the tissue. Similarly, if the cutting element resistance islower, the electric motor can require less current to drive the cuttingelement through the tissue. In such instances, the microcontroller candetect the amount of current drawn by the electric motor during thefiring stroke. For example, the microcontroller can include a currentsensor, which can detect the current utilized to fire the cuttingelement through the tissue, for example.

Referring now to FIG. 60, a surgical instrument assembly or system canbe configured to detect the compressive force in the clamped tissue. Forexample, in various instances, an electric motor can drive the firingelement, and a microcontroller can be in signal communication with theelectric motor. As the electric motor drives the firing element, themicrocontroller can determine the current drawn by the electric motor,for example. In such instances, the force-to-fire can correspond to thecurrent drawn by the electric motor throughout the firing stroke, asdescribed above. Referring still to FIG. 60, at step 3501, themicrocontroller of the surgical instrument can determine if the currentdrawn by the electric motor increases during the firing stroke and, ifso, can calculate the percentage increase of the current.

In various instances, the microcontroller can compare the current drawincrease during the firing stroke to a predefined threshold value. Forexample, the predefined threshold value can be 5%, 10%, 25%, 50% and/or100%, for example, and the microcontroller can compare the currentincrease detected during a firing stroke to the predefined thresholdvalue. In other instances, the threshold increase can be a value orrange of values between 5% and 100%, and, in still other instances, thethreshold increase can be less than 5% or greater than 100%, forexample. For example, if the predefined threshold value is 50%, themicrocontroller can compare the percentage of current draw change to50%, for example. In certain instances, the microcontroller candetermine if the current drawn by the electric motor during the firingstroke exceeds a percentage of the maximum current or a baseline value.For example, the microcontroller can determine if the current exceeds5%, 10%, 25%, 50% and/or 100% of the maximum motor current. In otherinstances, the microcontroller can compare the current drawn by theelectric motor during the firing stroke to a predefined baseline value,for example.

In various instances, the microcontroller can utilize an algorithm todetermine the change in current drawn by the electric motor during afiring stroke. For example, the current sensor can detect the currentdrawn by the electric motor at various times and/or intervals during thefiring stroke. The current sensor can continually detect the currentdrawn by the electric motor and/or can intermittently detect the currentdraw by the electric motor. In various instances, the algorithm cancompare the most recent current reading to the immediately proceedingcurrent reading, for example. Additionally or alternatively, thealgorithm can compare a sample reading within a time period X to aprevious current reading. For example, the algorithm can compare thesample reading to a previous sample reading within a previous timeperiod X, such as the immediately proceeding time period X, for example.In other instances, the algorithm can calculate the trending average ofcurrent drawn by the motor. The algorithm can calculate the averagecurrent draw during a time period X that includes the most recentcurrent reading, for example, and can compare that average current drawto the average current draw during an immediately proceeding time periodtime X, for example.

Referring still to FIG. 60, if the microcontroller detects a currentincrease that is greater than the threshold change or value, themicrocontroller can proceed to step 3503, and the firing speed of thefiring element can be reduced. For example, the microcontroller cancommunicate with the electric motor to slow the firing speed of thefiring element. For example, the firing speed can be reduced by apredefined step unit and/or a predefined percentage. In variousinstances, the microcontroller can comprise a velocity control module,which can affect changes in the cutting element speed and/or canmaintain the cutting element speed. The velocity control module cancomprise a resistor, a variable resistor, a pulse width modulationcircuit, and/or a frequency modulation circuit, for example. Referringstill to FIG. 60, if the current increase is less than the thresholdvalue, the microcontroller can proceed to step 3505, wherein the firingspeed of the firing element can be maintained, for example. In variouscircumstances, the microcontroller can continue to monitor the currentdrawn by the electric motor and changes thereto during at least aportion of the firing stroke. Moreover, the microcontroller and/orvelocity control module thereof can adjust the firing element velocitythroughout the firing stroke in accordance with the detected currentdraw. In such instances, controlling the firing speed based on theapproximated fluid flow or displacement in the clamped tissue, forexample, can reduce the incidence of staple malformation in the clampedtissue.

Referring now to FIG. 61, in various instances, the microcontroller canadjust the firing element velocity by pausing the firing element for apredefined period of time. For example, similar to the embodimentdepicted in FIG. 60, if the microcontroller detects a current draw thatexceeds a predefined threshold value at step 3511, the microcontrollercan proceed to step 3513 and the firing element can be paused. Forexample, the microcontroller can pause movement and/or translation ofthe firing element for one second if the current increase measured bythe microcontroller exceeds the threshold value. In other instances, thefiring stroke can be paused for a fraction of a second and/or more thanone second, for example. Similar to the process described above, if thecurrent draw increase is less than the threshold value, themicrocontroller can proceed to step 3515 and the firing element cancontinue to progress through the firing stroke without adjusting thevelocity of the firing element. In certain instances, themicrocontroller can be configured to pause and slow the firing elementduring a firing stroke. For example, for a first increase in currentdraw, the firing element can be paused, and for a second, differentincrease in current draw, the velocity of the firing element can bereduced. In still other circumstances, the microcontroller can commandan increase in the velocity of the firing element if the current drawdecreases below a threshold value, for example.

The entire disclosures of:

U.S. Pat. No. 5,403,312, entitled ELECTROSURGICAL HEMOSTATIC DEVICE,which issued on Apr. 4, 1995;

U.S. Pat. No. 7,000,818, entitled SURGICAL STAPLING INSTRUMENT HAVINGSEPARATE DISTINCT CLOSING AND FIRING SYSTEMS, which issued on Feb. 21,2006;

U.S. Pat. No. 7,422,139, entitled MOTOR-DRIVEN SURGICAL CUTTING ANDFASTENING INSTRUMENT WITH TACTILE POSITION FEEDBACK, which issued onSep. 9, 2008;

U.S. Pat. No. 7,464,849, entitled ELECTRO-MECHANICAL SURGICAL INSTRUMENTWITH CLOSURE SYSTEM AND ANVIL ALIGNMENT COMPONENTS, which issued on Dec.16, 2008;

U.S. Pat. No. 7,670,334, entitled SURGICAL INSTRUMENT HAVING ANARTICULATING END EFFECTOR, which issued on Mar. 2, 2010; U.S. Pat. No.7,753,245, entitled SURGICAL STAPLING INSTRUMENTS, which issued on Jul.13, 2010;

U.S. Pat. No. 8,393,514, entitled SELECTIVELY ORIENTABLE IMPLANTABLEFASTENER CARTRIDGE, which issued on Mar. 12, 2013;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/343,803, entitled SURGICALINSTRUMENT HAVING RECORDING CAPABILITIES;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/031,573, entitled SURGICAL CUTTINGAND FASTENING INSTRUMENT HAVING RF ELECTRODES, filed Feb. 14, 2008;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/031,873, entitled END EFFECTORS FORA SURGICAL CUTTING AND STAPLING INSTRUMENT, filed Feb. 15, 2008, nowU.S. Pat. No. 7,980,443

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/235,782, entitled MOTOR-DRIVENSURGICAL CUTTING INSTRUMENT, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,210,411;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/249,117, entitled POWERED SURGICALCUTTING AND STAPLING APPARATUS WITH MANUALLY RETRACTABLE FIRING SYSTEM,now U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0089970;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/647,100, entitled MOTOR-DRIVENSURGICAL CUTTING INSTRUMENT WITH ELECTRIC ACTUATOR DIRECTIONAL CONTROLASSEMBLY, filed Dec. 24, 2009;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/893,461, entitled STAPLE CARTRIDGE,filed Sep. 29, 2012, now U.S. Patent Application Publication No.2012/0074198;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/036,647, entitled SURGICAL STAPLINGINSTRUMENT, filed Feb. 28, 2011, now U.S. Patent Application PublicationNo. 2011/0226837;

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U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/800,025, entitled STAPLE CARTRIDGETISSUE THICKNESS SENSOR SYSTEM, filed on Mar. 13, 2013;

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U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0264194, entitled SURGICALSTAPLING INSTRUMENT WITH AN ARTICULATABLE END EFFECTOR, filed Apr. 22,2010, are hereby incorporated by reference herein.

In accordance with various embodiments, the surgical instrumentsdescribed herein may comprise one or more processors (e.g.,microprocessor, microcontroller) coupled to various sensors. Inaddition, to the processor(s), a storage (having operating logic) andcommunication interface, are coupled to each other.

The processor may be configured to execute the operating logic. Theprocessor may be any one of a number of single or multi-core processorsknown in the art. The storage may comprise volatile and non-volatilestorage media configured to store persistent and temporal (working) copyof the operating logic.

In various embodiments, the operating logic may be configured to processthe collected biometric associated with motion data of the user, asdescribed above. In various embodiments, the operating logic may beconfigured to perform the initial processing, and transmit the data tothe computer hosting the application to determine and generateinstructions. For these embodiments, the operating logic may be furtherconfigured to receive information from and provide feedback to a hostingcomputer. In alternate embodiments, the operating logic may beconfigured to assume a larger role in receiving information anddetermining the feedback. In either case, whether determined on its ownor responsive to instructions from a hosting computer, the operatinglogic may be further configured to control and provide feedback to theuser.

In various embodiments, the operating logic may be implemented ininstructions supported by the instruction set architecture (ISA) of theprocessor, or in higher level languages and compiled into the supportedISA. The operating logic may comprise one or more logic units ormodules. The operating logic may be implemented in an object orientedmanner. The operating logic may be configured to be executed in amulti-tasking and/or multi-thread manner. In other embodiments, theoperating logic may be implemented in hardware such as a gate array.

In various embodiments, the communication interface may be configured tofacilitate communication between a peripheral device and the computingsystem. The communication may include transmission of the collectedbiometric data associated with position, posture, and/or movement dataof the user's body part(s) to a hosting computer, and transmission ofdata associated with the tactile feedback from the host computer to theperipheral device. In various embodiments, the communication interfacemay be a wired or a wireless communication interface. An example of awired communication interface may include, but is not limited to, aUniversal Serial Bus (USB) interface. An example of a wirelesscommunication interface may include, but is not limited to, a Bluetoothinterface.

For various embodiments, the processor may be packaged together with theoperating logic. In various embodiments, the processor may be packagedtogether with the operating logic to form a System in Package (SiP). Invarious embodiments, the processor may be integrated on the same diewith the operating logic. In various embodiments, the processor may bepackaged together with the operating logic to form a System on Chip(SoC).

Various embodiments may be described herein in the general context ofcomputer executable instructions, such as software, program modules,and/or engines being executed by a processor. Generally, software,program modules, and/or engines include any software element arranged toperform particular operations or implement particular abstract datatypes. Software, program modules, and/or engines can include routines,programs, objects, components, data structures and the like that performparticular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Animplementation of the software, program modules, and/or enginescomponents and techniques may be stored on and/or transmitted acrosssome form of computer-readable media. In this regard, computer-readablemedia can be any available medium or media useable to store informationand accessible by a computing device. Some embodiments also may bepracticed in distributed computing environments where operations areperformed by one or more remote processing devices that are linkedthrough a communications network. In a distributed computingenvironment, software, program modules, and/or engines may be located inboth local and remote computer storage media including memory storagedevices. A memory such as a random access memory (RAM) or other dynamicstorage device may be employed for storing information and instructionsto be executed by the processor. The memory also may be used for storingtemporary variables or other intermediate information during executionof instructions to be executed by the processor.

Although some embodiments may be illustrated and described as comprisingfunctional components, software, engines, and/or modules performingvarious operations, it can be appreciated that such components ormodules may be implemented by one or more hardware components, softwarecomponents, and/or combination thereof. The functional components,software, engines, and/or modules may be implemented, for example, bylogic (e.g., instructions, data, and/or code) to be executed by a logicdevice (e.g., processor). Such logic may be stored internally orexternally to a logic device on one or more types of computer-readablestorage media. In other embodiments, the functional components such assoftware, engines, and/or modules may be implemented by hardwareelements that may include processors, microprocessors, circuits, circuitelements (e.g., transistors, resistors, capacitors, inductors, and soforth), integrated circuits, application specific integrated circuits(ASIC), programmable logic devices (PLD), digital signal processors(DSP), field programmable gate array (FPGA), logic gates, registers,semiconductor device, chips, microchips, chip sets, and so forth.

Examples of software, engines, and/or modules may include softwarecomponents, programs, applications, computer programs, applicationprograms, system programs, machine programs, operating system software,middleware, firmware, software modules, routines, subroutines,functions, methods, procedures, software interfaces, application programinterfaces (API), instruction sets, computing code, computer code, codesegments, computer code segments, words, values, symbols, or anycombination thereof. Determining whether an embodiment is implementedusing hardware elements and/or software elements may vary in accordancewith any number of factors, such as desired computational rate, powerlevels, heat tolerances, processing cycle budget, input data rates,output data rates, memory resources, data bus speeds and other design orperformance constraints.

One or more of the modules described herein may comprise one or moreembedded applications implemented as firmware, software, hardware, orany combination thereof. One or more of the modules described herein maycomprise various executable modules such as software, programs, data,drivers, application program interfaces (APIs), and so forth. Thefirmware may be stored in a memory of the controller 2016 and/or thecontroller 2022 which may comprise a nonvolatile memory (NVM), such asin bit-masked read-only memory (ROM) or flash memory. In variousimplementations, storing the firmware in ROM may preserve flash memory.The nonvolatile memory (NVM) may comprise other types of memoryincluding, for example, programmable ROM (PROM), erasable programmableROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), or batterybacked random-access memory (RAM) such as dynamic RAM (DRAM),Double-Data-Rate DRAM (DDRAM), and/or synchronous DRAM (SDRAM).

In some cases, various embodiments may be implemented as an article ofmanufacture. The article of manufacture may include a computer readablestorage medium arranged to store logic, instructions and/or data forperforming various operations of one or more embodiments. In variousembodiments, for example, the article of manufacture may comprise amagnetic disk, optical disk, flash memory or firmware containingcomputer program instructions suitable for execution by a generalpurpose processor or application specific processor. The embodiments,however, are not limited in this context.

The functions of the various functional elements, logical blocks,modules, and circuits elements described in connection with theembodiments disclosed herein may be implemented in the general contextof computer executable instructions, such as software, control modules,logic, and/or logic modules executed by the processing unit. Generally,software, control modules, logic, and/or logic modules comprise anysoftware element arranged to perform particular operations. Software,control modules, logic, and/or logic modules can comprise routines,programs, objects, components, data structures and the like that performparticular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Animplementation of the software, control modules, logic, and/or logicmodules and techniques may be stored on and/or transmitted across someform of computer-readable media. In this regard, computer-readable mediacan be any available medium or media useable to store information andaccessible by a computing device. Some embodiments also may be practicedin distributed computing environments where operations are performed byone or more remote processing devices that are linked through acommunications network. In a distributed computing environment,software, control modules, logic, and/or logic modules may be located inboth local and remote computer storage media including memory storagedevices.

Additionally, it is to be appreciated that the embodiments describedherein illustrate example implementations, and that the functionalelements, logical blocks, modules, and circuits elements may beimplemented in various other ways which are consistent with thedescribed embodiments. Furthermore, the operations performed by suchfunctional elements, logical blocks, modules, and circuits elements maybe combined and/or separated for a given implementation and may beperformed by a greater number or fewer number of components or modules.As will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reading thepresent disclosure, each of the individual embodiments described andillustrated herein has discrete components and features which may bereadily separated from or combined with the features of any of the otherseveral aspects without departing from the scope of the presentdisclosure. Any recited method can be carried out in the order of eventsrecited or in any other order which is logically possible.

It is worthy to note that any reference to “one embodiment” or “anembodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, orcharacteristic described in connection with the embodiment is comprisedin at least one embodiment. The appearances of the phrase “in oneembodiment” or “in one aspect” in the specification are not necessarilyall referring to the same embodiment.

Unless specifically stated otherwise, it may be appreciated that termssuch as “processing,” “computing,” “calculating,” “determining,” or thelike, refer to the action and/or processes of a computer or computingsystem, or similar electronic computing device, such as a generalpurpose processor, a DSP, ASIC, FPGA or other programmable logic device,discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or anycombination thereof designed to perform the functions described hereinthat manipulates and/or transforms data represented as physicalquantities (e.g., electronic) within registers and/or memories intoother data similarly represented as physical quantities within thememories, registers or other such information storage, transmission ordisplay devices.

It is worthy to note that some embodiments may be described using theexpression “coupled” and “connected” along with their derivatives. Theseterms are not intended as synonyms for each other. For example, someembodiments may be described using the terms “connected” and/or“coupled” to indicate that two or more elements are in direct physicalor electrical contact with each other. The term “coupled,” however, alsomay mean that two or more elements are not in direct contact with eachother, but yet still co-operate or interact with each other. Withrespect to software elements, for example, the term “coupled” may referto interfaces, message interfaces, application program interface (API),exchanging messages, and so forth.

It should be appreciated that any patent, publication, or otherdisclosure material, in whole or in part, that is said to beincorporated by reference herein is incorporated herein only to theextent that the incorporated material does not conflict with existingdefinitions, statements, or other disclosure material set forth in thisdisclosure. As such, and to the extent necessary, the disclosure asexplicitly set forth herein supersedes any conflicting materialincorporated herein by reference. Any material, or portion thereof, thatis said to be incorporated by reference herein, but which conflicts withexisting definitions, statements, or other disclosure material set forthherein will only be incorporated to the extent that no conflict arisesbetween that incorporated material and the existing disclosure material.

The disclosed embodiments have application in conventional endoscopicand open surgical instrumentation as well as application inrobotic-assisted surgery.

Embodiments of the devices disclosed herein can be designed to bedisposed of after a single use, or they can be designed to be usedmultiple times. Embodiments may, in either or both cases, bereconditioned for reuse after at least one use. Reconditioning mayinclude any combination of the steps of disassembly of the device,followed by cleaning or replacement of particular pieces, and subsequentreassembly. In particular, embodiments of the device may bedisassembled, and any number of the particular pieces or parts of thedevice may be selectively replaced or removed in any combination. Uponcleaning and/or replacement of particular parts, embodiments of thedevice may be reassembled for subsequent use either at a reconditioningfacility, or by a surgical team immediately prior to a surgicalprocedure. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that reconditioningof a device may utilize a variety of techniques for disassembly,cleaning/replacement, and reassembly. Use of such techniques, and theresulting reconditioned device, are all within the scope of the presentapplication.

By way of example only, embodiments described herein may be processedbefore surgery. First, a new or used instrument may be obtained and whennecessary cleaned. The instrument may then be sterilized. In onesterilization technique, the instrument is placed in a closed and sealedcontainer, such as a plastic or TYVEK bag. The container and instrumentmay then be placed in a field of radiation that can penetrate thecontainer, such as gamma radiation, x-rays, or high-energy electrons.The radiation may kill bacteria on the instrument and in the container.The sterilized instrument may then be stored in the sterile container.The sealed container may keep the instrument sterile until it is openedin a medical facility. A device also may be sterilized using any othertechnique known in the art, including but not limited to beta or gammaradiation, ethylene oxide, or steam.

One skilled in the art will recognize that the herein describedcomponents (e.g., operations), devices, objects, and the discussionaccompanying them are used as examples for the sake of conceptualclarity and that various configuration modifications are contemplated.Consequently, as used herein, the specific exemplars set forth and theaccompanying discussion are intended to be representative of their moregeneral classes. In general, use of any specific exemplar is intended tobe representative of its class, and the non-inclusion of specificcomponents (e.g., operations), devices, and objects should not be takenlimiting.

With respect to the use of substantially any plural and/or singularterms herein, those having skill in the art can translate from theplural to the singular and/or from the singular to the plural as isappropriate to the context and/or application. The varioussingular/plural permutations are not expressly set forth herein for sakeof clarity.

The herein described subject matter sometimes illustrates differentcomponents contained within, or connected with, different othercomponents. It is to be understood that such depicted architectures aremerely examples and that in fact many other architectures may beimplemented which achieve the same functionality. In a conceptual sense,any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality iseffectively “associated” such that the desired functionality isachieved. Hence, any two components herein combined to achieve aparticular functionality can be seen as “associated with” each othersuch that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective ofarchitectures or intermedial components. Likewise, any two components soassociated also can be viewed as being “operably connected,” or“operably coupled,” to each other to achieve the desired functionality,and any two components capable of being so associated also can be viewedas being “operably couplable,” to each other to achieve the desiredfunctionality. Specific examples of operably couplable include but arenot limited to physically mateable and/or physically interactingcomponents, and/or wirelessly interactable, and/or wirelesslyinteracting components, and/or logically interacting, and/or logicallyinteractable components.

Some aspects may be described using the expression “coupled” and“connected” along with their derivatives. It should be understood thatthese terms are not intended as synonyms for each other. For example,some aspects may be described using the term “connected” to indicatethat two or more elements are in direct physical or electrical contactwith each other. In another example, some aspects may be described usingthe term “coupled” to indicate that two or more elements are in directphysical or electrical contact. The term “coupled,” however, also maymean that two or more elements are not in direct contact with eachother, but yet still co-operate or interact with each other.

In some instances, one or more components may be referred to herein as“configured to,” “configurable to,” “operable/operative to,”“adapted/adaptable,” “able to,” “conformable/conformed to,” etc. Thoseskilled in the art will recognize that “configured to” can generallyencompass active-state components and/or inactive-state componentsand/or standby-state components, unless context requires otherwise.

While particular aspects of the present subject matter described hereinhave been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled inthe art that, based upon the teachings herein, changes and modificationsmay be made without departing from the subject matter described hereinand its broader aspects and, therefore, the appended claims are toencompass within their scope all such changes and modifications as arewithin the true scope of the subject matter described herein. It will beunderstood by those within the art that, in general, terms used herein,and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of the appendedclaims) are generally intended as “open” terms (e.g., the term“including” should be interpreted as “including but not limited to,” theterm “having” should be interpreted as “having at least,” the term“includes” should be interpreted as “includes but is not limited to,”etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that when aspecific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such anintent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence ofsuch recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid tounderstanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of theintroductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claimrecitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed toimply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinitearticles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing suchintroduced claim recitation to claims containing only one suchrecitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases“one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or“an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” should typically be interpreted to mean “atleast one” or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use ofdefinite articles used to introduce claim recitations.

In addition, even when a specific number of an introduced claimrecitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art willrecognize that such recitation should typically be interpreted to meanat least the recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of “tworecitations,” without other modifiers, typically means at least tworecitations, or two or more recitations). Furthermore, in thoseinstances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, and C,etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the senseone having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “asystem having at least one of A, B, and C” would include but not belimited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and Btogether, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and Ctogether, etc.). In those instances where a convention analogous to “atleast one of A, B, or C, etc.” is used, in general such a constructionis intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understandthe convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, or C” wouldinclude but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, Calone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A,B, and C together, etc.). It will be further understood by those withinthe art that typically a disjunctive word and/or phrase presenting twoor more alternative terms, whether in the description, claims, ordrawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities ofincluding one of the terms, either of the terms, or both terms unlesscontext dictates otherwise. For example, the phrase “A or B” will betypically understood to include the possibilities of “A” or “B” or “Aand B.”

With respect to the appended claims, those skilled in the art willappreciate that recited operations therein may generally be performed inany order. Also, although various operational flows are presented in asequence(s), it should be understood that the various operations may beperformed in other orders than those which are illustrated, or may beperformed concurrently. Examples of such alternate orderings may includeoverlapping, interleaved, interrupted, reordered, incremental,preparatory, supplemental, simultaneous, reverse, or other variantorderings, unless context dictates otherwise. Furthermore, terms like“responsive to,” “related to,” or other past-tense adjectives aregenerally not intended to exclude such variants, unless context dictatesotherwise.

In summary, numerous benefits have been described which result fromemploying the concepts described herein. The foregoing description ofthe one or more embodiments has been presented for purposes ofillustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive orlimiting to the precise form disclosed. Modifications or variations arepossible in light of the above teachings. The one or more embodimentswere chosen and described in order to illustrate principles andpractical application to thereby enable one of ordinary skill in the artto utilize the various embodiments and with various modifications as aresuited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that theclaims submitted herewith define the overall scope.

What is claimed is:
 1. A surgical instrument, comprising: an end effector; a drive member movable to effectuate a motion in said end effector; a motor operable to move said drive member to effectuate said motion in said end effector; and a bailout assembly operable to perform a mechanical bailout of said surgical instrument in response to a bailout error, said bailout assembly comprising: a bailout door; a bailout handle accessible through said bailout door, said bailout handle operable to move said drive member to effectuate a bailout motion in said end effector; and a controller, comprising: a memory; and a processor coupled to said memory, said processor configured to detect said bailout error, wherein said processor is programmed to stop said motor in response to said detection of said bailout error.
 2. The surgical instrument of claim 1, wherein said processor is configured to store a bailed out state in said memory in response to said detection of said bailout error.
 3. The surgical instrument of claim 1 further comprising an interface.
 4. The surgical instrument of claim 3, wherein said processor is configured to alert, through said interface, a user of said surgical instrument to perform said mechanical bailout in response to said detection of said bailout error.
 5. The surgical instrument of claim 4, wherein said interface comprises a display, and wherein said processor is configured to alert, through said display, the user of said surgical instrument to perform said mechanical bailout.
 6. The surgical instrument of claim 5, wherein said display comprises a backlight, and wherein said processor is configured to flash said backlight to alert the user of said surgical instrument to perform said mechanical bailout.
 7. The surgical instrument of claim 3, wherein said processor is configured to provide instructions, through said interface, to a user of said surgical instrument to perform said mechanical bailout in response to said detection of said bailout error.
 8. The surgical instrument of claim 7, wherein said processor is configured to provide said instructions to the user of said surgical instrument in a plurality of steps.
 9. The surgical instrument of claim 8, wherein said processor is configured to present, through said interface, each of said plurality of steps to the user of said surgical instrument in an animated image.
 10. A bailout system for use with a surgical instrument, wherein the surgical instrument includes a motor and an interface, said bailout system comprising: a processor; and a memory coupled to said processor to store program instructions, which when executed from said memory cause said processor to: detect an error requiring mechanical bailout of said surgical instrument; disable said motor in response to said detection of said error; alert a user of the surgical instrument through the interface to perform said mechanical bailout; and provide instructions for the user through the interface to perform said mechanical bailout.
 11. The bailout system of claim 10, wherein said program instructions, when executed from said memory, further cause said processor to store a bailed out state in said memory in response to said detection of said bailout error.
 12. The bailout system of claim 10, wherein said memory comprises a first memory and a second memory, wherein said program instructions, when executed from said first memory, further cause the processor to store a bailed out state in said second memory in response to said detection of said bailout error.
 13. The bailout system of claim 10, wherein said program instructions, when executed from said memory, further cause said processor to provide said instructions to the user of said surgical instrument in a plurality of steps.
 14. The bailout system of claim 13, wherein each of said plurality of steps is presented to the user through the interface in an animated image.
 15. A bailout system for use with a surgical instrument, wherein the surgical instrument includes an interface and a bailout handle accessible through a bailout door, said bailout system comprising: a processor; and a memory coupled to said processor to store program instructions, which when executed from said memory cause the processor to: detect an error requiring mechanical bailout of said surgical instrument; alert a user of said surgical instrument through the interface to perform said mechanical bailout; instruct the user through the interface to remove the bailout door to access the bailout handle; and instruct the user through the interface to operate the bailout handle to perform said mechanical bailout.
 16. The bailout system of claim 15, wherein the surgical instrument includes a motor, and wherein said program instructions, when executed from said memory, further cause said processor to disable the motor in response to said detection of said error.
 17. The bailout system of claim 15, wherein said program instructions, when executed from said memory, further cause said processor to store a bailed out state in said memory in response to said detection of said error.
 18. The bailout system of claim 15, wherein said memory comprises a first memory and a second memory, wherein said program instructions, when executed from said first memory, further cause the processor to store a bailed out state in said second memory in response to said detection of said error.
 19. The bailout system of claim 15, wherein said program instructions, when executed from said memory, further cause said processor to instruct the user through the interface to operate the bailout handle to perform said mechanical bailout in a plurality of steps.
 20. The bailout system of claim 13, wherein each of said plurality of steps is presented to the user through the interface in an animated image. 